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Southwest Airlines has abandoned plans to put unvaccinated workers on unpaid leave following employee-led demonstrations outside its Dallas headquarters.
Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate requires federal contractors like Southwest Airlines have its workforce take the COVID injection by Dec. 8 unless they are exempt for medical or religious reasons.
Southwest executives sent an email to staff Tuesday urging employees to get the injection or apply for an exemption by November 24, assuring employees that if their exemptions requests were denied, they could reapply if there was “new information or circumstances it would like the Company to consider,” CNBC reported.
The executives also said employees may still continue working at the company “as we coordinate with them on meeting the requirements (vaccine or valid accommodation).”
“This is a change from what was previously communicated. Initially, we communicated that these Employees would be put on unpaid leave and that is no longer the case,” they wrote in the note.
This comes just a day after hundreds of Southwest employees protested outside the airline’s headquarters at the Dallas Love Field Airport.
DALLAS- John, a pilot for Southwest Airlines shares an important message on behalf of employees:
‘No medical tyranny should be allowed at Southwest Airlines. Our slogan is freedom, yet our executive management is trying to take away our freedoms of choice’ pic.twitter.com/fq4isEnZwq
— Sav (@RapidFire_Pod) October 18, 2021
“Southwest acknowledges various viewpoints regarding the Covid-19 vaccine, and we have always supported, and will continue to support, our employees’ right to express themselves, with open lines of communication to share issues and concerns,” a Southwest spokesperson said Monday.
Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly had said last week that no employee will be fired for refusing to take the COVID injection.
“We’re not going to fire any employees over this. We’re urging all of our employees to get vaccinated. If they can’t get vaccinated, we’re urging them to seek an accommodation, so we’ll do everything we can to support our people here,” Kelly said on “Good Morning America.”
This is a great start, but Southwest Airlines should abandon Biden’s vaccine mandate entirely – as Delta Airlines had done – and stand behind its tagline, “A symbol of freedom.”
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