Boeing said on Friday that it had suspended a vaccine requirement for employees after a court blocked enforcement of an executive order by President Biden that instructed federal contractors to impose such mandates.
Several companies, including Union Pacific and BNSF Railway, recently dropped their vaccine mandates due to a court order. Employers say that the vaccine mandate makes it harder to hire people at a time when workers are in short supply.
About 92 percent of Boeing's US employees were fully vaccine free, according to the company. About 72 percent of adults in the US have received at least one shot of the coronaviruses vaccine. United Airlines, a Boeing customer, said that close to 100 percent of their employees have been vaccine free.
Boeing has suspended its vaccine requirement in line with a federal court's decision prohibiting enforcement of the federal contractor executive order and a number of state laws, the company said in a statement. We will continue to follow federal, state and local requirements.
In a note to employees, Boeing encouraged all workers to get a vaccine and booster shots, highlighting how companies are struggling to strike a balance on coronaviruses vaccines, an issue that has become freighted with politics as many conservatives rail against mandates. There are two conflicting pressures on managers, one from workers who don't want to be required to get the vaccine, and the other from employees worried about getting sick or infecting vulnerable family members and friends.
According to the C.D.C., the vaccines are safe, effective and our best tool to prevent the spread of COVID-19. I want to make it clear that I want our employees to get vaccine or booster if they have not done so to help protect their teammates, families and communities.
About 97 percent of the work force at Amtrak had already received a shot or an exemption from the vaccine mandate, despite the fact that it was dropping its mandate. The chief executive said that fewer than 500 of its employees have not beenvaccinated. The government-owned railroad acted after federal contractors did away with their mandates.
