Message From CWA Local 3112 President Johnny Hernandez
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Tuesday, November 23, 2021 Update on Mandate
CWA 3112 MEMBERS,
Members,
On Friday evening CWA’s District 3 leadership and attorney covered all CWA Local Presidents on the ever-evolving covid mandate challenges and new laws. We were covered on the Covid-19 mandate laws in effect throughout the southeast states, their effects on our members, and the OSHA mandate stay. Currently only Alabama, Tennessee, and the newly signed law by Governor Desantis in Florida impact AT&T’s mandate. Unlike the Montana vaccine law which tries to outlaw vaccine mandates all together, Florida’s law does not. While Florida’s new law out-laws a vaccine mandate for public state workers it does not for private industry workers. What the Florida law accomplishes is it adds additional exemptions that AT&T must offer to have a vaccine mandate. In addition to medical and religious exemptions the new law adds an exemption for individuals who have natural antibodies to Covid-19, an exemption for individuals who are pregnant or trying to get pregnant, and it forces a testing option for employees who chose not to get the vaccine. The law will also make Florida unemployment compensation available to workers who get fired for misconduct for not adhering to the vaccine mandates. With all new laws there are a few details that still need to be clarified. First, with respect to natural antibodies the law doesn’t specify what test needs to be taken, what levels of antibodies are acceptable, and how often an employee must test. The Pregnancy exemption does not clarify if it's only for females or both genders, and the testing option does not clarify what test is acceptable and how often it is required. The law does state that corporations will bear the cost of testing but what is not clear is if it includes the time to get tested. We were also covered on the OSHA mandate, currently all challenges to the OSHA mandate have been funneled to the 6th district court of appeals. Even though there is a stay on the OSHA mandate, it does not stop AT&T and other corporations from moving forward with their mandates. The OSHA lawsuits are challenging whether OSHA has the authority to execute and enforce a vaccine mandate, not whether corporations have the right. CWA’s bargaining team has been in contact with AT&T to negotiate a stop to the mandate while they get answers that arise from changes in state laws. AT&T’s initial response is that they will comply with the laws and move forward with their mandate. Our attorney expects AT&T and other corporations will challenge state laws and our bargaining team will continue to request bargaining as other states pass new laws. At the current moment I recommend applying for one of the available exemptions while the bargaining team negotiates changes to AT&T’s mandate. This will be an ever-evolving issue but as of today AT&T’s mandate does not seem to be going away in Florida. As the new exemptions become available and/or changes to the mandate come about I will continue to keep you informed.
In Unity,
Johnny
CWA 3112 MEMBERS,
Members,
On Friday evening CWA’s District 3 leadership and attorney covered all CWA Local Presidents on the ever-evolving covid mandate challenges and new laws. We were covered on the Covid-19 mandate laws in effect throughout the southeast states, their effects on our members, and the OSHA mandate stay. Currently only Alabama, Tennessee, and the newly signed law by Governor Desantis in Florida impact AT&T’s mandate. Unlike the Montana vaccine law which tries to outlaw vaccine mandates all together, Florida’s law does not. While Florida’s new law out-laws a vaccine mandate for public state workers it does not for private industry workers. What the Florida law accomplishes is it adds additional exemptions that AT&T must offer to have a vaccine mandate. In addition to medical and religious exemptions the new law adds an exemption for individuals who have natural antibodies to Covid-19, an exemption for individuals who are pregnant or trying to get pregnant, and it forces a testing option for employees who chose not to get the vaccine. The law will also make Florida unemployment compensation available to workers who get fired for misconduct for not adhering to the vaccine mandates. With all new laws there are a few details that still need to be clarified. First, with respect to natural antibodies the law doesn’t specify what test needs to be taken, what levels of antibodies are acceptable, and how often an employee must test. The Pregnancy exemption does not clarify if it's only for females or both genders, and the testing option does not clarify what test is acceptable and how often it is required. The law does state that corporations will bear the cost of testing but what is not clear is if it includes the time to get tested. We were also covered on the OSHA mandate, currently all challenges to the OSHA mandate have been funneled to the 6th district court of appeals. Even though there is a stay on the OSHA mandate, it does not stop AT&T and other corporations from moving forward with their mandates. The OSHA lawsuits are challenging whether OSHA has the authority to execute and enforce a vaccine mandate, not whether corporations have the right. CWA’s bargaining team has been in contact with AT&T to negotiate a stop to the mandate while they get answers that arise from changes in state laws. AT&T’s initial response is that they will comply with the laws and move forward with their mandate. Our attorney expects AT&T and other corporations will challenge state laws and our bargaining team will continue to request bargaining as other states pass new laws. At the current moment I recommend applying for one of the available exemptions while the bargaining team negotiates changes to AT&T’s mandate. This will be an ever-evolving issue but as of today AT&T’s mandate does not seem to be going away in Florida. As the new exemptions become available and/or changes to the mandate come about I will continue to keep you informed.
In Unity,
Johnny
