United Airlines is going to fire 600 employees who refused to comply with their vaccine mandate to get vaccinated:
THE HILL – United Airlines will begin the process of laying off roughly 600 employees — less than 1 percent of its workforce — who refused to comply with the company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, it announced Tuesday.
The Chicago-based airline said that 99 percent of its workforce provided proof of vaccination prior to a Monday deadline. United will move to fire those who did not seek an exemption or provide proof of vaccination, but the carrier will give them one more chance to comply with the mandate during the separation process.
“This was an incredibly difficult decision but keeping our team safe has always been our first priority,” United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby and President Brett Hart wrote in a memo to employees Tuesday.
The percentage of vaccinated United employees excludes the less than 3 percent of the company’s 67,000 employees who sought a religious or medical exemption. Six United employees filed a lawsuit against the airline last week over its policy to put exempt employees on unpaid leave.
It’s appalling that someone in this country would be fired because they refused to take a vaccine. I can understand moving someone around within the organization, perhaps to a position that doesn’t interact with the public, but forcing them to get the jab or be fired sounds awfully communist.
It’ll be interested to see what becomes of the lawsuit that these six employees filed last week.