Sign the petition now!
If you are a Bath Iron Works employee who is being forced to comply with the COVID-19 vaccine mandate that violates your own health, religion, and choice, please read the following letter addressed to Bath Iron Works and sign below.
Dear Ms. Novakovic, Mr. Lesko, and all senior managers,
We are writing to you today to respectfully ask that you reconsider any decision for Bath Iron Works (BIW) to enforce the federal mandate concerning COVID-19 vaccination for federal contractors and subcontractors, especially in light of recent legal decisions and news that is directly relevant to our industry.
As an initial matter, we do not believe that you are legally required to mandate COVID-19 vaccines. On November 30, 2021, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky granted a preliminary injunction enjoining the federal government enforcing the vaccine mandate for federal contractors and subcontractors in all covered contracts in Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. In its opposition to the motion, the government admitted that only certain “covered contracts” between the government and contractors or subcontractors were subject to the mandate. Opinion and Order dated Nov. 30, 2021 in The Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Biden, et al., Civil No. 3:21-cv-00055-GFVT (E.D.K.Y.)
We understand that your contract may not be a covered contract and, thus, not subject to the mandate. However, even if the contract is a covered one, this injunction demonstrates why the mandate should not be enforced.
With respect to the issue of whether your contract is a covered one, it has recently been reported that your competitor Ingalls Shipbuilding has halted enforcement of the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate for their employees. Ingalls management has stated that the terms of its contracts with the federal government do not require them to mandate this vaccine and that Ingalls has chosen not to mandate COVID-19 vaccines. We humbly request that BIW reviews its current contracts, and, if like Ingalls’ contracts, they do not require vaccine mandates, that BIW, like Ingalls Shipbuilding, not enforce COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
As employees of Bath Iron Works, we have dedicated much of our lives to the quality and integrity of workmanship that customers have come to expect. We take great pride in our work and in our workforce and the nearby communities in which we live.
In the event that BIW chooses to mandate COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of employment, we ask that you honor the loyalty of your workers who cannot receive the vaccine. We take great pride in our employment at Bath Iron Works, we hope that you, in turn, will have pride in your workforce and support our right to make our own individual decisions concerning medical interventions and not condition our employment on receiving a medical intervention.
Many employees have religious or medical reasons that preclude their receiving these vaccines. Even where employees have chosen to receive the vaccine, many believe strongly that the vaccine should not be mandated for all as a condition of employment. Thus, in the event that BIW mandates the COVID-19 vaccine, we urge you to be fair in accepting religious and medical exemptions submitted to you, allowing those dedicated BIW employees who cannot receive COVID-19 vaccines to continue the long BIW tradition of excellence and retain their jobs.
We understand the federal mandate has created difficult decisions for you and BIW management. We do not endeavor to add to that stress; however, we are respectfully urging you to reconsider enforcement of this mandate.
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