Business group warns of mass layoffs and ‘catastrophic’ supply chain disruptions from Biden’s vaccine mandate

To avoid a “calamity,” the NAW urged Biden to provide alternatives, including testing, and to consider a “short-term delay” to avoid further disruption to supply chains.

White House pushes back

In response, the White House pointed to comments made this week by Jeff Zients, the administration’s coronavirus response coordinator.

“Vaccination requirements work. They’ve increased vaccination rates by 20-plus percentage points to over 90% in most organizations,” Zients told reporters this week.

Zients pointed out that the first step for employees who do not get vaccinated is a “period of education and counseling,” not termination.

“The requirements for federal workers and contractors will not cause disruptions to government services that people depend on,” Zients said. “Agencies have the flexibility necessary to enforce the mandate without impacting critical operations.”

“We want our employees to know that nobody is going to lose their job on December 9 if we’re not perfectly in compliance,” Kelly said on Thursday.

Some workers would rather get fired than vaxed

The NAW stressed that its members are strongly in favor of getting Americans vaccinated, noting that members have offered vaccine bonuses, gift cards, gas cards and vacation days. One company even offered trips to Las Vegas as an incentive.

“NAW member companies are also firmly pro-vaccine for their own employees and want their teams to be healthy and safe,” Hoplin wrote. “Their interest in getting their employees vaccinated is greater than the government’s interest.”

Still, the trade group said some employees across the distribution industry “for whatever reason” refuse to get vaccinated, risking the termination of “thousands” of employees just before the holidays. Many of these workers have told employers “directly and unequivocally that they would choose to be fired” if required to get vaccinated, Hoplin said, adding that these workers are disproportionately from communities of color and tend to be lower-income.

“The already compromised supply chain will be under added pressure during the busiest time of the year, and the already tight labor market will make it immeasurably more difficult to replace laid off employees,” Hoplin said.

“Come December, many companies will be unable to keep products moving through their warehouses and distribution centers to satisfy growing consumer demand if forced to terminate these essential workers,” Hoplin wrote.