Today, President Biden signed an Executive Order on Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts, that provides protections for federal contract workers.
• Employees that refuse to get vaccinated by January 4, 2022, will be placed on an unpaid leave of absence for up to 60 calendar days. Employees on this leave will not be permitted to use any of their paid time off benefits during this period. The Company will allow employees on this leave to continue their Health and Welfare benefits (Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance) provided employees continue to pay their active employee premiums through direct bill.
In October 2021 Lumen notified CWA of their intent to mandate the COVID-19 vaccination for the unionized workforce. Their decision was based on Executive Order 14042 Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors. CWA demanded to bargain over the effects of this policy.
As you are aware, during our last round of bargaining with AT&T over the issue of COVID-19 vaccination, an impasse was reached at the bargaining table. As a result, the Company implemented a last, best, final offer.
President Biden’s subsequent Executive Order 14042, which was released earlier this month, requires employees who work on or in connection with federal contracts, and employees who are co-located with employees who work on or in connection with federal contracts, to become fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by January 18, 2022.
CWA has continued to meet with Frontier to bargain over the effects the Company’s plannedCOVID-19 Vaccine mandate will have on our members.
The Company intends to require all employees be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 (and submit proof to the Company) or be approved for a legally recognized medical or religious accommodation. Under the Company’s proposal, those who are non-compliant could face unpaid leave and possibly discharge.
The Union has met several times with the Company regarding the recently announced COVID Vaccine mandate. As of today, we have not reached an agreement. We are waiting on a response to our latest proposal.
We have held several meetings with the Company regarding the recently announced COVID Vaccine mandate. Avaya is subject to the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force COVID-19 Workplace Safety: Guidance for Federal Contractors and Subcontractors (“Federal Guidelines”), dated September 24, 2021. As such, anyone who is involved in federal contracts (technicians, dispatchers, HR, Legal, etc.) is mandated to be vaccinated. The Company has been working hard to meet the Union’s concerns while still adhering to the mandate.
We met with the Company November 17, 2021, to continue Effects Bargaining over the mandatory COVID-19 Vaccine mandate. We rejected a series of Company proposals that wouldn’t treat each employee’s circumstance fairly and equally. Bargaining is recessed for the day and we will be working with the Company to secure future dates to get back to the table. The Company confirmed today that they will extend the date to be fully vaccinated from December 8, 2021 to January 18, 2022. To be fully vaccinated employees must have their 2nd shot by January 4, 2022. Look for communications on that.
