FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway has become the third Class I railroad to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for workers, citing the Biden Administration’s executive order requiring vaccinations for federal contractors.
“While we maintain the decision to be vaccinated for COVID-19 is a personal one — and have encouraged employees to make the decision that is best for them and their families — the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandate now obligates BNSF to require employees to be vaccinated and we all must work toward that end,” spokeswoman Amy Casas said in a statement.
“In recognition for those who are fully vaccinated by the Jan. 4 deadline, BNSF will provide $300 to scheduled employees and exempt employees will receive a half-day of vacation. BNSF also has a process for an employee to request an accommodation to be exempted from the mandate due to a medical condition or a sincerely held religious belief in accordance with the executive order.”
Union Pacific announced a vaccination requirement for its employees in mid-October [see “Union Pacific to require employees …,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 15, 2021]; Norfolk Southern did so the following week [see “NS enacts vaccine mandate …,” News Wire, Oct. 25, 2021]. Those railroads both filed suit to prevent legal action by unions over the mandate; the unions subsequently countersued. BNSF similarly filed suit on Sunday, the Associated Press reports.
NS CEO Jim Squires subsequently cautioned that the vaccination mandate could exacerbate crew shortages [see “Norfolk Southern warns that COVID-19 vaccine mandate poses risk to service,” News Wire, Oct. 27, 2021].
— Updated at 7 a.m. CST on Nov. 9 with BNSF filing suit against unions.
1st – The Biden vaccine mandate is the very definition of executive overreach. A President does NOT make laws. That is the job of Congress.
2nd – We’ve been told, the vaccine is to protect others from COVID. Now the science shows, even if you get the vaccine, you can still get COVID and you are infectious. So, if you can infect others with COVID whether your vaccinated or not, how is it protecting others?
3rd – They keep sidestepping the conversation of “natural immunity.” What gives? Many scientists agree “natural immunity” provides more protection that the vaccine.
4th – With regard to religious beliefs concerning the vaccine, who is anyone to tell another their deeply held religious beliefs aren’t valid enough to excuse them from the vaccine requirement?
5th – With all I’ve mentioned, there should never have been any vaccine mandate.
Thank you
Ironic that it was corporate America–supported by conservative judges–who demanded vaccination requirements for employees for decades. Now the anti-intellectual Trumpists who equate opinion with scientific evidence are whining against vaccine mandates. Public health has the centerpiece of requiring vaccinations. The Supreme Court resolved the issue of mandatory vaccinations in 1905, ruling 7-2 in Jacobson v. Massachusetts that they were constitutional.
The Constitution “does not import an absolute right in each person to be, at all times and in all circumstances, wholly freed from restraint,” Justice John Marshall Harlan, known for defending civil liberties, wrote. “Real liberty for all could not exist under the operation of a principle which recognizes the right of each individual person to use his own, whether in respect of his person or his property, regardless of the injury that may be done to others.”
Simpleton arguments, voiced by full-vaccinated high school grad Sean Hannity, against vaccines claiming “liberty” should double-check the Constitution since there are no protections against required vaccinations to be found anywhere in the seven Articles.
How does this play out in the courts. Just this past Saturday the Fifth District Court of Appeals put on hold any Vax mandates from the Biden Administration. When this gets to the Supreme Court, and you know it will, what happens.
Should the Biden Administration prevail every company/corporation will follow the rules imposed on them by the government.
On the other hand, if the Vax Mandates are thrown out, how many lawsuits will be filed against the government AND Corporations. How many people got the Vax for their own reasons (like I did) . On the opposite side how many got the Vax only to keep their jobs. People have to buy food, clothes, gas, utilities, and pay rent/mortgages for themselves and families. I can see the lawyers lining up possible clients right now.
Do employees have to have any vaccinations now (such as Tetanus) for employment. And what religion says that vaccines are bad? Neither Jehovah Witness nor Christian Science are against them. Do Union rules have clauses about them? This anti-vaccine mess needs to end.
J ROBERT – The longer this goes, the more complicated this gets. A couple of examples. (1) Aaron Rodgers’ statements. Plural. Some of them made sense. (2) As I anticipated, as I saw coming, one employer (the NBA) now requires booster shots. Where does this end? If one needs a booster at six-month intervals, will employers require sixty shots in a thirty-year career? Is that what HR is about? In my own life I get medical advice from my physicians, not from HR.
Now, Robert, as to religions. You mention two religions, the Witnesses and the Christian Scientists. In USA, there is no list of what does and what does not constitute a recognized religion. One’s religion is whatever one says it is. I might also add that nonreligious people also have rights. If one employee claims a conscientious exception based on whatever god he worships, then atheist and agnostic employees have equal rights to their beliefs regarding the vaccine. Where does this road go and where does it end? For example, that I know of, Aaron Rodgers doesn’t belong to a church. Maybe he does, maybe he doesn’t, I can’t be sure. Does that invalidate his thoughts? Many right wingers believe that fundamentalist Christians are discriminated against. Now should we discriminate against people who are secular?
I’m vaccinated and I belong to a pro-vaccine church (Roman Catholic). That doesn’t mean I will join a Jihad against people with opposing views.