IPAGBAWAL ANG ‘NO VACCINE, NO WORK’ POLICY

THE emerging mandatory ‘no vaccination, no work’ workplace policy being imposed by unscrupulous employers and business owners  to their employees is discriminatory and coercive.

The policy is being introduced to ensure workers’ optimum productivity in the light of government plan to safely and fully open the economy to spur recovery amid the worsening economy caused by the pandemic quarantine restrictions.

Ranting workers said they were told by their superiors in advance that they would be disallowed to report to work unless they  participate in company-sponsored COVID-19 vaccination activities.

Other business owners have already given instructions to supervisors and managers to  deem reluctant employees as unfit to work.

Another group of employees said they have been told that they would be  asked to present a certification as proof they have been inoculated with COVID-19 vaccine  before they are allowed to work.

Employers also forewarned their employees with reassignment and  relocation to other branches if they would not participate in the company-sponsored immunization program. Others would be put on furlough or floating status until they are injected with the vaccine.

The workplace tension between workers and management came about following a recommendation of the economic cluster last week for the government to place the entire country to a modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) classification which would allow more industries to open further in hope to spur recovery from the economic downturn while keeping low incidence of COVID-19 infection among the workforce.

The strain was further  exacerbated by different enterprise-based internal survey results showing a large number of working people were unwilling to be vaccinated for fear of negative repercussions to their health.

Meanwhile, a local government unit is planning to enforce similar ‘no vaccine, no work’ policy.

Upon the instruction of Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas, the city councilors were deliberating an extensive mandatory ‘no vaccination, no work’ policy covering not only on city government employees but also to private companies and businesses operating within the city.

But for labor leader Gerard Seno, National Executive Vice President of Associated Labor Unions, this mandatory workplace policy is a form of coercion and discrimination which violates the right of workers to freely decide and chose for themselves.

Workers must be inoculated with safe and effective vaccines to safely reopen our economy but these arbitrary actions taken by abusive employers are  audacious acts of direct discrimination and straightforward coercion, he said.

Employees, either in private or in government, must never ever be subjected to any compulsion. The decision of any person not be vaccinated should be respected in the same way we respect those who had taken the vaccine.

The employers can only try to persuade employees with the benefits and advantages of being vaccinated but employees should not be coerced or compelled against their will by abusive tactics, he explained. He said they rather urge employers and businesses to integrate with their vaccination program the appropriate information and education about the benefits of the vaccine.

Before it becomes a norm, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) must respond quickly to these surfacing abuses and provide immediate protection measure by outlawing these unfair and unjust treatment of employees.

According to the Amnesty International (AI), discrimination occurs when a person is unable to enjoy his or her human rights or other legal rights on an equal basis with others because of an unjustified distinction made in policy, law or treatment. Moreover, the International Labour Organization (ILO) says acts of discrimination can perpetuate poverty, stifle development, productivity and competitiveness, and ignite political instability.