It appears big tech is ushering in the normalization of mandating COVID-19 vaccines for private businesses. In a fresh press release, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced that all employees for Google who will be working at U.S. offices must have a COVID-19 vaccine.
Right after Google announced their vaccine mandates, Facebook put out a release right after them, stating that they will also require their employees who will be working in U.S. offices to be vaccinated too.
According to NPR, Twitter has already issued a policy where employees must show proof of vaccination if they want to work in the office. Due to the nature of the work at Twitter, most of the employees don’t need to be in the office, but they can work from a remote location.
Many believe the decision from the big tech will swing the doors wide open for other private companies to issue vaccine mandates for their employees.
The DOJ Led The Way for Big Tech Companies to Force Mandates
The Department of Justice on July 6th released an opinion that declared private companies and public agencies are not prohibited from requiring vaccine mandates for their employees.
The opinion was even more specific and stated that even if a vaccine is labeled under a EUA (Emergency Use Authorization), companies and agencies are still within the right to force their staff to get vaccinated or else receive the consequences of not doing so.
Before the DOJ came up with the shocking decision, many Americans believed they were safe under Section 564 of the Food, Drug, Cosmetic Act; this act states that both federal and private employees can refuse or accept a vaccine that is labeled as a EUA.
The DOJ decision led the way for the Veteran Affairs department to mandate the COVID-19 vaccinations to over 100,000 employees working for the agency.
U.S. Postal Service Workers Union are Standing Up Against Vaccine Mandates
A recent report by Reuters showed that the Biden administration will force all federal employees to get vaccinated or get regularly tested. Well the APWU (American Postal Worker Union), which represents well over 200,000 U.S. postal workers, released a statement which read that they oppose any COVID-19 vaccination mandates.
Their press release went on to say that any required mandate for postal workers must first negotiate with leaders from the APWU. They also shared their beliefs that the federal government should, in no way, force employees to get vaccinated. It appears that the APWU no longer wants to be used as a political pawn for the Democrats anymore.
Previously, the Democrats wanted the U.S. Postal Service to be funded billions of dollars if they cooperated with the Democrats’ plans regarding mail-in ballots. It appears though even the APWU, who had some of its leaders endorse Biden, is now turning their backs on his policies.
