Vax Mandate in Agriculture Pt 2
With today’s Fruit Grower Report, I’m Bob Larson. A vaccine mandate for companies with 100 or more employees has been put on hold by a federal appeals court, citing "grave statutory and constitutional" issues.
U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse says including ag workers is counter to previous regulations and would make no sense …
NEWHOUSE … “There was a time, if you recall, early on in the pandemic, we had something called essential workers that we recognized that they needed to continue in their critical positions, because without them there’s just so many things that would be at risk of not happening and putting our communities in unnecessary danger.”
So, Newhouse asks, what’s changed? …
NEWHOUSE … “We turn around and those same workers, we’re telling them, oh you’re still critical but if you don’t get the vaccine you’re going to be terminated. So, I’m not exactly sure why that mindset changed. They’re just as critical today as they were a year and a half or two years ago, and I think we need to be creative in making sure we can continue to have those people engaged in the workforce.”
For “essential” workers, Newhouse says there should be options …
NEWHOUSE … “Frankly, I don’t think the administration thought through the ramifications of many of these decisions. That’s why you’re seeing a lot of people refusing and a lot of those of us here in Congress are trying very hard to come up with ideas to make this work better.”
Newhouse says there are still a lot of unanswered questions and things the administration needs to clear up.
