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The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), a union representing 700,000 federal and Washington, DC government workers, has asked the Biden government to extend the deadline for workers to meet COVID-19 vaccine requirements.
President Joe Biden An executive order was signed in September, requiring government workers to provide proof of full vaccination before the November 22 deadline, or face penalties that may eventually include dismissal. Since it takes two weeks for the vaccine to take effect from the last vaccination, the deadline for federal workers has actually passed on Monday, which is the last date for vaccination and timely vaccination and certification on November 22.
Government contractors and subcontractors are also subject to the November 22 deadline, but the government last week Expand Their deadline is January 4.On a tuesday letter In a letter from AFGE to White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients, Office of Personnel Management Director Kiran Ahuja, and Office of Management and Budget Acting Director Shalanda Young, the AFGE requested “full coordination of COVID-19 vaccination deadlines between federal employees and contractors “.
Everett B. Kelley, Chairman of AFGE, wrote: “This double standard has caused confusion and distress among federal employees because people who perform government work in the same environment are treated differently and have inconsistent deadlines. “It is unforgivable that the contractor must meet the requirements throughout the holiday period, while federal employees continue to be subject to the November 22 deadline.”
He added: “Federal employees who may be subject to disciplinary actions at this time of year cannot be overstated.” Reasonable. Federal workers should be able to complete the vacation without being threatened by disciplinary action”
Kelly said that the employees of the Transportation Security Administration were “especially affected and frustrated” because the contractors they worked with could use a later deadline, and “the correctional officers of the Bureau of Prisons did not enforce the prisoners and they must comply with this. It’s understandable to be annoyed by the facts until November 22, otherwise it will face termination.”
At the end of the letter, AFGE leaders insisted that the union agreed to the “government’s goal of defeating the pandemic” and appreciated the “important role of vaccination,” but believed that a different deadline was “both bad for morale and essentially unreasonable. “.
In addition to federal contractors, the January 4 deadline also applies to the authorization of vaccinations or weekly tests for large private companies with more than 100 employees, although the Federal Court of Appeals prevented the authorization of private companies from taking effect at least temporarily.
Weekly newspaper Contact the White House and the Office of Management and Budget for comments.
