Hundreds of American and Southwest Airlines employees protest against vaccination warrants



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Workers at several airlines across the United States are protesting against COVID-19 vaccination warrants after several carriers announced employees must be vaccinated or risk losing their jobs.

Hundreds of American Airlines (AA) workers, including uniformed pilots and flight attendants, took to the streets outside the company’s headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas on Thursday to protest the new measures, reports the Dallas Morning News.

Many of them held up signs reading “Money orders won’t fly” and “Don’t fire my father” in response to the new rules, while some protesters said they were skeptical of the vaccine’s effectiveness and concerned about unreported side effects.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has not reported any long-term side effects from approved COVID-19 vaccines, noting that they have undergone and will continue to undergo the most intensive safety surveillance in the world. history of the United States.

American Airlines told workers in an email Wednesday night that they must be fully immunized by November 24 or face layoffs.

The company said it was offering an extra day of paid vacation and other incentives to employees who submit proof of vaccination by the November deadline and that employees will be able to request religious or health exemptions from the vaccination.

Southwest Airlines (SWA) also announced that it will require all of its 56,000 U.S. employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

The Biden administration last month issued an executive order requiring all federal contractors to be vaccinated against COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, unless they are granted a religious or medical exemption. be granted.

Contractors who do not comply can lose government contracts. Major US airlines have a number of federal contracts.

The Dallas-based airline said in an Oct. 4 press release it had conducted a “thorough review” of the new Biden administration rules, and determined that its contracts with the US government “require full compliance with the Federal Immunization Directive. “

Major carrier’s U.S.-based employees must be fully immunized or have approved religious, medical, or disability accommodation by December 8 to maintain their jobs.

The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA), a union, announced on October 5 that it would file a temporary injunction against SWA to prevent the company from continuing its tenure. The order is part of a lawsuit that SWAPA filed on August 30 to challenge forced holidays and other changes to working conditions imposed by the airline during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We want to be perfectly clear: SWAPA is not anti-vaccination, but we believe that in all circumstances it is our role to represent the health and safety of our pilots and to voice their concerns to the ‘business,’ SWAPA said in a statement.

SWAPA has authorized its members to demonstrate against the mandate and the harsh working conditions during the pandemic and has also authorized $ 1 million to support these protests, which could begin this fall, according to SWAPA president Casey Murray, reports News Week.

The Allied Pilots Association, a union representing American Airlines pilots, said on Wednesday that it “expects management to meet its obligations under the Railway Labor Act to negotiate the upgrade. implementation and the effects of this mandatory vaccination requirement on our pilots “.

The Railway Labor Act seeks to resolve disputes between air carriers and their employees quickly and protects workers’ rights to collective bargaining.

United Airlines was the first US carrier to impose vaccines on its national employees, after announcing its tenure in August. He confirmed on September 29 that he would lay off 593 of his employees who chose not to comply with the company’s vaccine mandate.

Delta Air Lines remains a major US carrier that has chosen not to impose COVID-19 vaccines for all of its employees, although it does require that all new US employees be vaccinated, and that all unvaccinated Delta staff enroll in its health care plan pays $ 200 surcharge.

Mimi Nguyen Ly and Reuters contributed to this report.

Katabella Roberts

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Katabella Roberts is a journalist currently based in Turkey. She covers current affairs and business for The Epoch Times, focusing primarily on the United States.

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