Two weeks ago, Southwest Airlines announced that all its workers must get vaccinated against COVID-19 to keep working with the company. That mandate did not sit well with many employees as hundreds of them rallied outside Southwest Airlines headquarters in Dallas on Monday to protest it. The protesters included flight attendants, customers, and other employees of Southwest.
Protesters held different placards with messages like, “Terminate the Mandate” and “Freedom not force.” Some protesters carried their message through Denton Drive, a route to the corporate location, as they honked and yelled out words of opposition to the vaccines while they drove up and down the drive.
According to The Dallas Morning News, Thomas McCauley, a ground operations employee for Southwest at Houston Hobby Airport, said he might retire if he is forced to be vaccinated to keep his job at the airline. “I’m not an anti-vaxxer, but I don’t think anyone should be forced to do this,” the 63-year-old said.
Southwest’s directive to its employees results from President Biden’s executive order for all federal contractors to mandate vaccinations for their employees. Since the executive order, airlines such as Southwest who have contracts to carry military members, U.S. mail, federal employees, and other deals, have warned their workers that they would have to be vaccinated.
Southwest has given its employees a deadline of Nov. 24 to turn in the documentation that shows they are fully vaccinated to keep their jobs. The group is making exemptions for medical or religious reasons.
The mandate has pitted Southwest management against employee unions. The Southwest Airlines Pilot Association has expressed worry that the vaccines could cause health issues and thus, put pilots’ flight certificates at risk.
According to The Dallas Morning News, a spokesman for Southwest Airlines, Chris Mainz, stated that the airline giant was aware of the “informational demonstration” outside its headquarters. “Southwest acknowledges various viewpoints regarding the COVID-19 vaccine,” he said, “and we have always supported, and will continue to support, our employees’ right to express themselves, with open lines of communication to share issues and concerns.”
In a memo to employees two weeks ago, CEO Gary Kelly said it was not his choice to place mandates on people to get vaccinated and philosophically disagrees with the federal government’s approach.