Labor unions want ban on ‘no vaccine, no work’ policy
MANILA, Philippines — The biggest group of labor unions in the country wants the government to ban what it described as an “emerging” policy of some businesses requiring their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before they are allowed to return to work.
The Associated Labor Unions (ALU) said Tuesday that the “no vaccination, no work” policy is “discriminatory and coercive.”
“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,” said Gerard Seno, ALU national executive vice president.
Seno said that employers should only try to persuade employees with the benefits and advantages of being vaccinated, but they should not coerce them to get the shot.
ALU said that some factory workers have complained to them about how their superiors have told them that they would not be allowed to report to work unless they participate in the company-sponsored coronavirus vaccination drive.
It added that other business owners have given instructions to supervisors and managers to deem employees who do not get vaccinated against COVID-19 as unfit to work.
It also said that another group of employees have been told that they would need to present a certification to prove that they have received a COVID-19 jab before they are allowed to work.
Meanwhile, Iloilo City is mulling to mandate all employees in the city to get vaccinated against COVID-19 before they are allowed to work.
“Before it becomes a norm, the Department of Labor and Employment must respond quickly to these surfacing abuses and provide immediate protection measure by outlawing these unfair and unjust treatment of employees,” Seno said.
While the government targets to inoculate 60 million to 70 million people in the hopes of achieving herd immunity, it is not making COVID-19 vaccines mandatory. — Xave Gregorio
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