WASHINGTON, DC – In a bizarre twist to President Joe Biden’s federal vaccine mandate announced Thursday evening that requires all federal workers to get vaccinated, one group of workers is exempt. The United States Postal Service, the people who go door to door each and every day in every neighborhood and community across America will not be mandated to get a vaccination.
The science behind Biden’s vaccination mandate is questionable, but the science behind exempting the one agency that has the most direct contact with the general public on a daily basis goes beyond science and into the realm of union politics.
Like the school facemask mandate, the USPS exemption is one borne in politics.
It wasn’t until four hours after the announcement that the White House announced the postal worker exemption.
“But nearly four hours after that understanding was reported, the White House issued a clarification saying that postal workers will have a choice between getting vaccinated and getting tested once a week, just like workers at large companies,” the New York Post reported.
“USPS is not included in the executive order requiring vaccination of Federal employees. USPS has a separate statutory scheme and is traditionally independent of federal personnel actions like this,” according to a US Postal service source. “That said, USPS is strongly encouraged to comply. Also, [the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration] will cover USPS through the [emergency temporary standards], meaning that postal workers will be subject to the vaccination or testing policy announced today.”
First, the Democrats don’t want to anger the postal service just weeks before an important election in November as they are the ones delivering all of the mail-in ballots. Without the postal service, the Democrats have no way to win the 2021 elections as mail-in ballots typically favor Democrat candidates.
The postal workers are represented by the AFL-CIO union. AFL-CIO National President Everett Kelley said the government must come to the union bargaining table if it wants to mandate vaccines.
“Since President Biden made his first major announcement about changing COVID-19 protocols for the federal workforce in response to the surging Delta variant, we have said that changes like this should be negotiated with our bargaining units where appropriate,” Kelley said after a change in the federal mask mandate policy. “Put simply, workers deserve a voice in their working conditions.”