The Detroit Three automakers are requiring that all hourly and salaried workers in Canada be vaccinated against COVID-19, but they are not requiring the same of the U.S. workforce — although discussions about the possibility are happening.
General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis, formerly called Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, reiterated Wednesday they strongly encourage employees in the U.S., who are eligible to get a vaccine, to do so. That came just hours after the automakers announced the mandate for Canada.
A Ford spokeswoman told the Free Press that Ford has already "designated some roles where we require the vaccine. In the U.S., we are assessing the new executive actions to determine what adjustments need to be taken to our current vaccination policy as we continue to prioritize the safety of our employees."
The Detroit Three, and other businesses with at least 100 employees, may soon get direction on a COVID-19 workplace vaccination and testing mandate from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). On Tuesday, OSHA sent its emergency temporary standard to the White House for final review.
On Sept. 9, President Joe Biden said OSHA would issue a standard requiring those businesses to mandate their workers be vaccinated or do weekly testing for the virus. Workers would get paid time off to get the shots and recover from any side effects. Employers that don't comply with the vaccine mandate or paid-time-off requirement could be fined up to $14,000 per violation. The rule will impact more than 80 million workers, the White House said.
'Canada only'
Effective Dec. 17, Stellantis will require all employees, contractors, service providers and visitors to its sites in Canada to be fully vaccinated and provide proof, as recommended by Canada's Ministry of Health and Provincial Health Officer.
For the U.S., Stellantis spokesperson Shawn Morgan said, "As part of our protocol, all U.S. employees have been asked to self-certify their vaccination status since spring. We are continuing to monitor the situation and, in partnership with the UAW, evaluating additional actions to take in the best interest of employee health and safety."
Ford did not immediately provide an effective date for its vaccine mandate in Canada.
GM Canada said in a statement Wednesday that effective Dec. 12, all employees and visitors to GM facilities will be required to be fully vaccinated.
GM spokesman David Barnas told the Free Press that Wednesday’s vaccine mandate announcement "applies to Canada only." It is consistent with GM’s country-specific approach since the early days of the pandemic, he said. Situational factors such as positive case rates, government guidelines and vaccine access, have varied across various global GM facilities and influences safety protocols and actions GM takes to protect workers, Barnas said.
"However, GM continues to highly encourage all employees to get vaccinated," Barnas said. "It is the best way for them to protect themselves, their families and colleagues from serious disease and hospitalization.”
GM Canada said of its mandate, "Exemptions and accommodations will be rare and will be evaluated on an individual basis."
Union reaction
Detroit Three automakers have been working with the UAW, the union that represents most hourly autoworkers in the U.S., on workplace safety and vaccinations in its factories.
In reaction to the news that the automakers are instituting a vaccine mandate in Canada, UAW spokesman Brian Rothenberg said, "Our position is consistent with what we’ve said in the past: We are encouraging all our members to get vaccinated, but understand there are health and religious reasons that some people can’t. We are awaiting instructions from OSHA.”
Unifor, the union that represents about 35,000 of Canada's autoworkers, was not consulted by the automakers about adopting a vaccine mandate, Jerry Dias, Unifor's national president, told the Free Press late Wednesday.
Unifor’s lawyers have studied it and said it would likely hold up in court if challenged, Dias said. So Dias is being straightforward with members.
“If you end up terminated as a result of violating the policy, it’s very likely you’ll remain terminated,” Dias said. “It’s our members’ rights to make their own decision, but their decision may have consequences. So unless they have a bona fide health reason, they’ll stay terminated.”
He said about 85% to 90% of Unifor's members have been vaccinated and have "disdain" for having to work alongside someone who is not vaccinated. Some auto suppliers in Canada have already mandated vaccination, Dias said, and those who have not are considering it and will likely now do it given the Detroit Three's move, he said.
Still, Dias said he expects some individual locals might challenge the mandate.
"This will be tested, but it’ll take years" to be resolved, Dias said. "So we’re saying to our members, there are consequences to their decision. Our lawyers are telling us the companies can do this.”
GM near full compliance
GM has been aggressive in its drive to promote vaccination. In August, GM said it had confidentially asked its roughly 48,000 U.S. salaried workers to share their vaccine information so it could assess overall immunity levels and guide its safety protocols. GM required those employees who said they were fully vaccinated to submit proof.
Late last month, GM said it had started issuing letters of safety violations to a "very small number" of salaried employees who had not yet complied with the company's confidential vaccination reporting mandate despite several reminders to do so, GM spokeswoman Maria Raynal told the Free Press last month.
"Continued noncompliance will result in a second safety letter violation and a reduction of the performance bonus," Raynal said.
But as of Wednesday, Raynal said, "We are pleased that virtually every GM salaried employee has reported their vaccine status via our confidential reporting tool. We continue to work with a handful of employees, and we are almost at 100% completion."
'Difficult conversations'
Last month, at the Mackinac Policy Conference on Mackinac Island, GM President Mark Reuss addressed a question about why GM is not mandating that its U.S. hourly workforce be vaccinated.
"We're a large company, we've got a lot of different kinds of employees that have lots of different problems and challenges in life," Reuss said. "We're trying to be very respectful of that."
But he added, "we don't want fear in the workplace. So that's where we are right now. That can change depending on what the law is or what the federal government actually says you have to do and we'll obviously do that, but that's where we are today."
