Nearly 600 United Airlines employees losing their jobs after refusing to get vaccinated; company sa

[mucifer]

Source: Chicago Tribune

More than 99% of United Airlines’ U.S.-based employees who did not seek a religious or medical exemption from the company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate got the shots, while 593 who refused to comply will lose their jobs.

Chicago-based United shared the results of compliance with its vaccine requirement Tuesday, its deadline to provide proof of vaccination.

“This is a historic achievement for our airline and our employees as well as for the customers and communities we serve,” United CEO Scott Kirby and president Brett Hart said in a memo to employees. “Our rationale for requiring the vaccine for all United’s U.S.-based employees was simple — to keep our people safe — and the truth is this: Everyone is safer when everyone is vaccinated, and vaccine requirements work.”

Less than 3% of the company’s 67,000 U.S. employees requested religious or medical exemptions. Earlier this month, United said employees granted exemptions would be placed on temporary leave Oct. 2, while those whose requests were denied would have five weeks to get the shots or face termination.



Read more: https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-united-airlines-vaccine-mandate-update-20210928-hrkp3jaynvfvbbh6jmeb6bxyoa-story.html

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Full article headline:
Nearly 600 United Airlines employees losing their jobs after refusing to get vaccinated; company says vaccination rate at 99%

[LonePirate]

1. They now have more time to enjoy their freedom!

[dixiechiken1]

6. *snort* 😏

[Heartstrings]

10. What she did! 👆

[vanlassie]

15. Their "Liberty."

[ZonkerHarris]

2. No unemployment for this kind of job loss.

[cadoman]

3. adios suckers!

600 more jobs available for 600 wonderful, vaccinated immigrants. Welcome to the USA and thank you for respecting the safety of your new neighbors!

[DownriverDem]

4. I just wouldn't

lose my income over a vaccination. What is their Plan B?

[durablend]

22. Bitch and moan about "tyranny" no doubt

[wnylib]

34. I'm betting that they thought the

airline would eventually cave in to them. "They can't fire us all."

Might also have illusions of being missed so much and hurting United enough by their absence that management will call them back to work.

[whopis01]

55. It doesn't sound so convincing if they said

“They can’t fire less than 1% of us”. Which is exactly what happened. Less than 1% of their workforce. I think they’ll get by until they fill those positions again.

[wnylib]

56. I have no doubt at all that

United will get by without the 1% or less who were fired. I was only speculating on what the vaccine refusers were telling themselves about their stubborn refusal. If they thought, or hoped, that there would be too many of them for the airline to follow through with firings, they would also have hoped that sticking with their refusal would make a difference. Obviously, if that is what they thought, they were wrong.

I have a medical appointment tomorrow morning that will require me to remove my mask during a face examination. Although I am fully vaccinated, I wear a mask everywhere due to age and health issues. So I am very glad that my governor, Kathy Hochul, has made vaccinations for all healthcare workers mandatory.

[rpannier]

29. gofundme

[StarryNite]

51. LOL

[ForgoTheConsequence]

5. When will these jobs be posted?

Asking for a friend.

[GregariousGroundhog]

12. It sounds like the unvaccinated still have time to change their mind

Per the article, the unvaccinated will be put on paid leave (if they have a medical exemption) or unpaid leave (if they have a religious exemption) beginning October 3rd. Those employees without either exemption will be put on unpaid leave, and have five weeks to become vaccinated before being terminated.

[Journeyman]

21. That's very generous of United (and smart, too -- replacing employees can be hard) . . .

I'm sure a few weeks (or maybe even days) of cooling their heels with no money coming in will cause a change of thought in more than most.

[DanieRains]

28. Excellent Point

They can apply at kill your customer companies.

[RockRaven]

7. I, for one, don't want people with such poor critical thinking skills to have anything to do with

airplanes/air travel anyway. So this story sounds good to me.

[usaf-vet]

8. I would imagine no other airline will hire them. Lost the job AND career. Not a smart move.

[Lucky Luciano]

9. OwnTheLibs Airways?

[Heartstrings]

11. OTL for its logo?

[nycbos]

13. I live in Chicago now.

Maybe I'll apply for a job at United.

Get that employee ticket discount.

[marble falls]

14. That's good. Restaurants are dying for servers.

[vanlassie]

16. But they will require carts!

[marble falls]

18. And a roll of duct tape.

[erronis]

53. Yeah, but diners don't want to die because of unvaccinated servers....

I've been phoning my doctors' offices to ask if everyone in the office is vaccinated before I'll visit.

Dumb, dumber, dumbest - the anti-vaxxers.

[louis-t]

17. Yay! Burger King is hiring.

They can go work for $11 an hour.

[The Jungle 1]

44. The median pay for a ticket agent is 35 grand

Baggage handlers median pay is 31 grand. I would guess they do get healthcare.

[Major Nikon]

19. Good for UA. I hope my company does the same

They are pretty much exclusively Q-loons. At least the break room TV will stop going to OAN

[Beartracks]

20. Losing their jobs? Or giving up their jobs?

[Ka-Dinh Oy]

23. Well, they shouldn't have a hard time finding another job.

I see a lot of help wanted signs for a lot of types of work. Minimum wage and no benifits but they are jobs. They wanted to not follow the rules and this is their consequences. No one to blame but themselves.

[infullview]

24. They deserve what they get for electing to leave a good job

because they're dumber than a bag of rocks and believe the Earth is flat, the moon landing was a hoax, and dems eat dead babies. Now they can make use of all those social safety net programs us libtards put in place to help those incapable of helping themselves.

[ellie]

25. Oh well

Enjoy your penury.

[Cryptoad]

26. They are not "losing" their jobs,,,,

they are quiting......

[Pachamama]

42. +100000

Exactly - this is the correct description

They are failing to meet a job requirement- by choice

[hibbing]

27. Headline: 66,000 United employees vaccinated? n/t

[ShazzieB]

30. The headline used by the Chicago Tribune is so misleading!

"Nearly 600 UA employees" sounds like a huge number and gives a very different impression than the first sentence of the article. It's almost like the famously conservative Tribune went out of the way to compose the most negatively sensational headline possible.

I don't know if it really was deliberate, but it seems weird to me that the headline makes the situation sound soooo much scarier than it actually is.

[riversedge]

36. The Hill: United Airlines to lay off nearly 600 workers who refused to get vaccinated

The workers will get one more chance.

Link to tweet

?s=20

United Airlines to lay off nearly 600 workers who refused to get vaccinated

https://thehill.com/policy/transportation/aviation/574381-united-airlines-to-lay-off-nearly-600-workers-who-refused-to



By Karl Evers-Hillstrom - 09/28/21 06:53 PM EDT



United Airlines will begin the process of laying off roughly 600 employees — less than 1 percent of its workforce — who refused to comply with the company's COVID-19 vaccine mandate, it announced Tuesday.

The Chicago-based airline said that 99 percent of its workforce provided proof of vaccination prior to a Monday deadline. United will move to fire those who did not seek an exemption or provide proof of vaccination, but the carrier will give them one more chance to comply with the mandate during the separation process.
.............................

The percentage of vaccinated United employees excludes the less than 3 percent of the company’s 67,000 employees who sought a religious or medical exemption. Six United employees filed a lawsuit against the airline last week over its policy to put exempt employees on unpaid leave..............................


..................United is the only one of the top four U.S. airlines to fire employees who do not comply with a vaccine requirement. Delta Air Lines will enact a $200 monthly surcharge on unvaccinated employees, while American Airlines and Southwest Airlines are only encouraging employees to get the shot.

[mopinko]

45. they've only had about a hundred years of practice.

there actually was a time when it was a great paper and the editorials stayed on their own page.
that was a long time ago, tho.

[Doodley]

31. Some will be hardline angry anti-vaxers who will never get jabs. They will lose their jobs. Yay!

[Walleye]

32. Bye. Be sure and check the overhead bin for your personal belongings

[riversedge]

33. It is their freedom to refuse to vaccinate.

[TomSlick]

35. B'Bye.

No employer can afford stupid employees and there is no known cure for stupid.

[soldierant]

37. I already would not go to a restaurant now because the

horror stories about cleanliness of the kitchen and the prsonal hygiene and behavior of staff are bad enough without a pamdemic. Release hundreds of unvaccinated people (who all have attitudes) into the job market, and they might go work at a restaurant? Are you kidding me?

I'll brave restaurants outside of a pandemic because I'm smart enough to be nice to people who serve me. But not now. Hell, no.

[Prof. Toru Tanaka]

43. Went to a Jersey Mike's recently.

Not one employee behind the counter w/ a mask.

I think I'll be making my own hoagies at home for a while.

[turbinetree]

38. Dumb shits.....they more than likely vaccinations shots when they were younger,

so that they could grow up and be dumb shits today.....as a former United employee...I have no fucking sympathy for them....

[DonCoquixote]

39. i hate to say it , but

i am not going to be in a steel tube for 2 hours with people who do not get vacced

[bluecollar2]

54. They're aluminum and fiberglass...n/t

[hay rick]

40. The next Jim Jones must be salivating.

[Pachamama]

41. Good Job United Airlines

Make it the friendly and safe skies

[yaesu]

46. Maybe they can work at my local pizza shop who keeps running a help wanted ad with the following

"We do NOT require a Covid Vaccination- in fact we will not even ask you if you are."

this saddens me as I have been getting their pizza for decades but I live in a 99.9% repuke area.

[Bengus81]

47. In the words of Saint Ronnie...Well,they didn't get fired,they QUIT.

That statement sure worked for Republicans concerning those air traffic controllers,it can work here too.

[LiberalLovinLug]

48. I know less than 3% applied but what the hell is a "religious exemption"?

Is it as simple as just declaring you don't "believe" in vaccines because you hear voices in your head from God who tells you the vaccine is devil juice?

Or do you have to belong to a big established church for a long time, and have to submit letters from your pastor, and passages from the Bible to defend your decision?


BTW, either one is is just as ridiculous.

[IronLionZion]

49. Airline passengers have been violent maskholes this past year

so fewer people want to work as flight attendants.

What a hot mess

[CountAllVotes]

50. UA needs to rot in hell

They treat disabled passengers like crap!

The last time I dared to travel I've had to use them to get to SFO and wow, what a freakin' nightmare it was.

Nothing would make me happier to see these freaks go belly up and the sooner the better!

[Dukkha]

52. Their jobs were clearly not important

They gave them up in a heartbeat for a very trivial reason. Their loss and the airline is better off losing this baggage.