Largest US Health Care Union Will Fight Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccines

Epoch Times ^ | 06/23/2021 | Jack Phillips

[SeekAndFind]

The president of the largest union of health care workers in the United States says the organization will fight against companies requiring mandatory COVID-19 vaccines for employees.

George Gresham, president of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East—which describes itself as the largest health care union in the country—said hospital systems don’t have the right to mandate vaccines for employees. The union, which is based in New York, also represents hundreds of thousands of nurses and caregivers in New Jersey, Florida, Washington, Maryland, and Massachusetts.

“Whether there is a legal challenge that we can make, or whether it’s just a pure organizational challenge that we can make, we are not going to just give in,” Gresham told local news website Gothamist this week.

Earlier in June, NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital in New York had mandated that its employees be vaccinated against the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes COVID-19, coming as other hospital systems across the United States have done the same.

The union president said that he’s vaccinated against the virus and has encouraged union members to get vaccinated as well. However, he told the website that workers “have the right to make their decision about their own health,” and met with NewYork-Presbyterian Chief Executive Steve Corwin to discuss unvaccinated union members’ concerns about the company’s policy.

It’s not just 1199SEIU that has opposed mandatory shots, as the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) released a statement opposing vaccine mandates.

“NYSNA strongly opposes the mandatory vaccination of health care providers for COVID-19 as a condition of employment or as a state or federal mandate,” the union states on its website.

[Mariner]

“but anything which sets conditions outside of the workplace and work hours, they have no right to set”

Legally they do.

Whether they have a natural right to do so is a separate discussion.

[thecodont]

I’ve had to take various vaccines in the past in order to travel to or live in overseas locations. Even as a military brat kid, we had to get certain shots when we were stationed in Italy. No big deal.

But there’s something about the zealous and frenzied manner in which the government and media are pushing this vaccine that raises my skepticism. They’re trying to force it and they shouldn’t be doing that.

Kudos to any organization who is fighting this.

Agreed. This is something totally different. Not normal.

And what is the difference?

This "vaccine" is not about health. It is about control.

[SecAmndmt]

Legally they do.

I'd like to see a good case based on the 9th amendment. We own our own bodies and immunity. Employers may make reasonable accommodations for illness, and their liability for viral infection should be ZERO.

At the end of the day, the Republic is a about individual rights, family, property, freedom, liberty and not so much about commerce and business. Those things are important, but they should never trump Constitutional rights. For example, my employer limiting my right to talk about faith at work is not a problem. Outside of work, I can talk about it. But vaccines, esp mRNA genetic treatment/vax make permanent and lasting changes to people. Employers have no more right to demand those changes, than they have a right to first dibs on our brides on our wedding night. This is especially true if the "privilege" the business wishes to exercise is based on government policy. Several states have fought for the right of employees to keep their personal firearms locked in the vehicles in the company parking lot. It is entirely a freedom/conservative position for them to have that right.