Starbucks NIXES its COVID vaccine mandate for 228,000 workers one week after SCOTUS ruling
Starbucks has abandoned its COVID vaccine mandate in a u-turn on policy it announced two weeks ago.
This comes just a week after the ruling by the Supreme Court and follows up companies such as General Electric, Amtrak and Macy's, who have made similar decisions.
In a memo sent Tuesday to employees, the Seattle coffee giant - which employs 228,000 people - said it was responding to last week's ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. In a 6-3 vote, the court rejected the Biden administration's plan to require vaccines or regular COVID testing at companies with more than 100 workers.
'We respect the court's ruling and will comply,' Starbucks Chief Operating Officer John Culver wrote in the memo.
President Biden urged businesses to bring in vaccine mandates on their own and pushed states to 'do the right thing' after the Supreme Court voted 6-3 last Thursday to block his sweeping rules on private companies in a crushing blow to his pandemic response.
Starbucks is no longer requiring its U.S. workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19, reversing a policy it announced earlier this month
The Supreme Court has blocked President Joe Biden 's vaccine-or-test mandate for private companies with 100 or more employees, in a 6-3 decision handed down on Thursday that dealt a crushing blow to the White House's pandemic response
Starbucks' reversal is among the most high-profile corporate actions in response to the Supreme Court ruling. Many other big companies, including Target, have been mum on their plans.
On Jan. 3, Starbucks said it would require all employees to be vaccinated by Feb. 9 or face a weekly COVID test requirement.
At the time, Culver said it was the responsibility of Starbucks' leadership 'to do whatever we can to help keep you safe and create the safest work environment possible.'
In Tuesday's memo, Culver said the company continues to strongly encourage vaccinations and booster shots. The company also told workers on Tuesday that they shouldn't wear cloth masks to work, and should instead use medical-grade surgical masks.
Starbucks required workers to reveal their vaccination status by Jan. 10. The company said Wednesday that 90 percent have reported and the 'vast majority' are fully vaccinated. Starbucks wouldn't say what percent of workers are not fully vaccinated.
It's the latest setback in a bad day for Joe Biden (pictured telling reporters that Democrats' current plan for voting rights is dead after moderate Sen. Kyrsten Sinema objected to scuttling the filibuster)
Starbucks employs 228,000 people in the U.S.
The conservative justices claim Biden's rule was overly-broad and would have presented a 'significant encroachment' on the 'everyday lives -- and health -- of' the 84 million American workers that would have been impacted.
The justices passed Biden's mandate for healthcare workers 5-4, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh siding with liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer.
Biden called the ruling on private businesses 'disappointing' in a statement on Thursday afternoon but added that the decision to keep the healthcare mandate 'will save lives.'
'This emergency standard allowed employers to require vaccinations or to permit workers to refuse to be vaccinated, so long as they were tested once a week and wore a mask at work: a very modest burden,' the president claimed.
Starbucks President John Culver (pictured) is reversing the policy in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision
A demonstrator holds a "Freedoms & Mandates Don't Mix" sign outside the U.S. Supreme Court
'As a result of the Court's decision, it is now up to States and individual employers to determine whether to make their workplaces as safe as possible for employees, and whether their businesses will be safe for consumers during this pandemic by requiring employees to take the simple and effective step of getting vaccinated.'
Thirteen states including Texas, Florida and Arizona have bans or limits on imposing vaccine mandates while many companies including Amtrak and Macy's have already announced measures for their employees.
Democrat-led states such as New York with their own mandates won't be impacted and can keep their rules in place, while states without any rules in place can decide for themselves.
Republicans celebrated the decision by calling it a 'victory for freedom' after claiming it was an overreach for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) - the agency usually tasked with investigating asbestos and workplace accidents.
Labor Secretary Marty Walsh has, despite the loss, vowed to use the OSHA's existing authority to hold businesses accountable for protecting workers.
'We urge all employers to require workers to get vaccinated or tested weekly to most effectively fight this deadly virus in the workplace,' Walsh said in a statement Thursday. 'Employers are responsible for the safety of their workers on the job.'
No comments