Bulletin
Mandatory Vaccination Policies and Your Workplace
September 20, 2021
To: All MoveUP members in BC
There has been a great deal of speculation that some of our employers may be considering policies that will mandate their staff to be vaccinated for COVID-19 as a condition of employment.
Please be assured that we are in regular contact with all our employers on this issue and we are staying current on the public health officials’ orders around vaccination policies and mandates.
Should any of our employers implement a mandatory vaccine policy, we will scrutinize their policy in the same way we scrutinize any employer policy:
- Is the policy reasonable in the circumstances of the ongoing pandemic and the nature of the work being completed?
- Is the policy being applied arbitrarily or discriminatorily?
- Does the policy violate any sections of the applicable collective agreement?
- Is the policy in compliance with Public Health Orders and the law?
- Is there an alternative option available that protects the health and safety of our members to the same extent vaccinations can provide?
No question, this fourth wave of COVID-19 is taking a toll on all of us. We wish that the pandemic was behind us, and we could all get back to our normal, pre-COVID lives but unfortunately that is not the case.
The good news, compared to one year ago, is that we now have very effective vaccines that are saving lives around the world. In provinces where we represent members, all those provinces have over 75% of eligible recipients with at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
As health professionals around the globe are saying, this virus is fast becoming the disease of the unvaccinated. For this reason, we encourage everyone who has not been vaccinated to do so as soon as possible and help bring the end to the spread of COVID-19 in our communities.*
Please stay safe and healthy,
David Black, President
Lori Mayhew, Secretary-Treasurer
Rysa Kronebusch, Vice-President, Utilities
Christy Slusarenko, Vice-President, Combined Units
Annette Toth, Vice-President, ICBC
*We recognize there may be a small group of members who can not be vaccinated due to medical restrictions or religious grounds. Our encouragement of vaccinations is for those who have no medical or religious restrictions.
