Union Pacific to comply with COVID vaccine deadline for U.S. workers
Reuters
Published Oct 13, 2021 04:06PM ET
Updated Oct 13, 2021 05:01PM ET
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Union Pacific Corp said on Wednesday it will require its 31,000 U.S. employees to be vaccinated under President Joe Biden's executive order requiring that federal contractors mandate vaccines by Dec. 8, except for employees who receive an approved exemption.
"As a federal contractor who ships goods supporting our nation's armed services, ... all employees are required to report their vaccination status or have an approved medical or religious accommodation by the federally mandated deadline," Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP), the top U.S. railroad operator, said in a statement.
Last month, U.S. passenger railroad Amtrak said it will require nearly all of its 18,000 employees be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by Nov. 22.
Boeing (NYSE:BA) Co, another federal contractor, said on Tuesday it will require its 125,000 U.S. employees to be vaccinated by Dec. 8.
Major U.S. airlines have said they will also meet the deadline imposed on federal contractors, including American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL), Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Co, JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) Corp and Alaska Airlines, as has aircraft parts manufacturer Spirit AeroSystems (NYSE:SPR).
The White House announced the Dec. 8 deadline for employees of federal contractors last month and the requirements are expected to cover millions of employees.
Government contractors International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Corp and Raytheon Technologies (NYSE:RTX) Corp have also said they will require all U.S. employees to be vaccinated. The White House is adding clauses to future government contracts mandating inoculations.
The Labor Department separately plans to issue an emergency temporary standard (ETS) requiring employers with more than 100 workers to have them inoculated or tested weekly - a policy expected to cover more than 80 million workers.
The department sent the proposed ETS to the White House regulatory office on Tuesday.
Get The News You Want
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.