It’s actually interestingly difficult to find front page stories about Joe Biden at major media outlets. The NY Times has a whopping 2 mentions of Biden’s name for their Sunday edition. One is about who’s playing Biden on SNL, the other is actually hidden. The Washington Post has the most, with 7 mentions, but, only a few are about Biden. There are 6 mentions of Trump. The dude is the president, right? No mention of Biden escaping to Delaware for the weekend yet again, even with his agenda in chaos and freefall. Anyhow, digging deeper, we find the big point of Biden’s vaccine mandate
Biden presses companies to get ahead of vaccine mandate
President Biden is pushing companies to get ahead of the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate by imposing their own mandates amid simmering concerns that some employees will quit when the national requirement takes effect.
Biden’s vaccine-or-test mandate for businesses with 100 or more workers is still being crafted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), prompting the administration to fill that time by encouraging more employers to implement their own vaccination rules beforehand.
Companies taking that step are getting a shout-out from the White House.
“We’re touting companies as far reaching as United Airlines to Tyson’s Foods who are leading their industries on putting forth requirements that are going to help keep their workplaces safe and their business strong and consistent. Economists from across the board agree that requirements will help in our recovery,†a White House official told The Hill.
When asked why the administration would rather see companies come out now with their own mandates instead of waiting until the OSHA ruling, the official said, “There is no reason to wait to put forth these requirements and we encourage every company to do what will boost vaccinations.â€
OK, so, it’s not actually Biden doing this, since he’s barely lucid. It’s White House staff.
White House chief of staff Ron Klain has praised United Airlines, AT&T and other companies for their vaccine mandates. He tweeted an article that said United had less than one percent of employees refuse to get the vaccine following its mandate. (snip)
“There have been — some of these companies have been much bigger, larger companies, where they have effectively implemented these mandates and requirements. And for the most part, we have not seen a mass exodus of employees,†White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Wednesday. “Yes, individuals have decided not to get vaccinated and then have therefore not, no longer been employed. That’s nobody’s preference.â€
It’s very strange that there’s no mention of Biden actually reaching out to any companies to thank them or congratulate them or something. No quotes, no direct mentions. Where is this guy? What does he actually do? Anyway, there a plenty of mentions of companies worried about losing more employees while they’re already shorthanded during the #BidenEconomySucks.
“If employers know OSHA is going to issue a standard requiring certain safety measures, employers start to comply ahead of the requirement. You see this with most OSHA standards — that often by the time it is issued, many employers have complied or are on their way,†said Debbie Berkowitz, chief of staff and senior policy adviser for OSHA during the Obama administration.
And therein is the point, which I believe I mentioned when Surrender Joe first announced this: to get as many employers to implement a mandate before OSHA’s rule (nice that Biden announced it before the rule was even written. Heck, do they even know if they have the authority to do this?) is rolled out, and the lawsuits start, and you know there will be judges who put it on pause. Seriously, how will OSHA even enforce it?
Given how small and chronically understaffed OSHA is, the idea of snitching on someone in your office is actually not that far from reality.
Employee complaints are an important part of enforcement given how few inspectors the government has, says Rich Fairfax, a safety consultant with the National Safety Council who spent 36 years at OSHA, including as head of enforcement.
According to OSHA, there are about 1,850 federal and state inspectors covering some 8 million worksites nationwide.
In addition to responding to complaints, Fairfax thinks inspectors will simply add Covid-related tasks to their to do lists — looking to see if a company is keeping vaccination records and running a testing program — when they’re already inside the workplace checking up on safety hazards or incidents.
So, even if rolled out and allowed to stand, OSHA will pretty much be relying on snitches.
