{"id":1118629,"date":"2021-12-14T15:44:55","date_gmt":"2021-12-14T20:44:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1118629"},"modified":"2021-12-14T15:44:57","modified_gmt":"2021-12-14T20:44:57","slug":"amtrak-temporarily-suspends-worker-vaccine-mandate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/amtrak-temporarily-suspends-worker-vaccine-mandate\/","title":{"rendered":"Amtrak Temporarily Suspends Worker Vaccine Mandate"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Famtrak-temporarily-suspends-worker-vaccine-mandate%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1118629&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Amtrak announced on Tuesday that it is temporarily suspending its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for workers and no longer plans to end some services in January as previously expected.<\/p>\n<p>An email sent to employees revealed \u201cfewer than 500 active Amtrak employees\u201d were not yet in compliance with the company\u2019s mandate set for January 4, 2022, despite an overall vaccination or accommodation rate of more than 95% among its 17,000 employees.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">\ud83d\udea8 Amtrak announces the company\u2019s vaccine policy is being temporarily suspended \u2014 and the change means the company no longer expects to reduce service due to worker shortage in January 2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/73zPNNKjXQ\">pic.twitter.com\/73zPNNKjXQ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JacquiHeinrich\/status\/1470843840345128965?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 14, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cRecently a federal district court decision halted the enforcement of the Executive Order for federal contractors. This caused the company to reevaluate our policy and to address the uncertainty about the federal requirements that apply to Amtrak,\u201d the email stated.<\/p>\n<p>The company has now reverted its vaccine mandate policy back to what it announced on August 11 with testing as an alternative for those who choose not to be vaccinated.<\/p>\n<p>Those without vaccination or an approved accommodation will be subject to weekly COVID-19 tests.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter reviewing our system service plans in light of these changes, we do not anticipate having system-wide service impacts in January,\u201d the Amtrak email added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur customers trust Amtrak\u2019s commitment to safety and are responding positively to the investments and improvements we are making,\u201d Amtrak CEO Bill Flynn said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/media.amtrak.com\/2021\/12\/amtrak-fiscal-year-2021-amidst-continuing-coronavirus-pandemic-grew-ridership-and-revenue-and-introduced-new-projects-and-initiatives-for-the-future\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statement<\/a> on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe will continue to prioritize offering a modern, safe and reliable customer experience and preparing for what should be a monumental fiscal year 2022.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Last week, The Daily Wire previously <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/amtrak-set-to-cut-some-services-due-in-part-to-unvaccinated-workers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a> regarding Amtrak\u2019s previous plan to cut back on services:<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><em>Amtrak is getting ready to cut back on its services due in part to the enforcement of its vaccine mandate early next year.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><em>Amtrak\u2019s vaccine mandate is scheduled to be implemented January 4, and a spokesman for the company&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/amtrak-prepares-to-reduce-service-because-of-vaccine-mandate-11639086847\">reportedly<\/a>&nbsp;said that its rule will stay even if the federal vaccine mandate attempted by the Biden Administration is still barred by the courts.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><em>Amtrak President Stephen Gardner discussed the upcoming setbacks in written&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/transportation.house.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/Gardner%20Testimony1.pdf\">testimony<\/a>&nbsp;for a hearing before the House Committee on Transportation &amp; Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials on Thursday.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><em>Gardner noted that 94% of the workers are fully vaccinated, and 96% have gotten at least one dose, but added that those \u201cnumbers do not include employees who are on leave of absence or have an approved accommodation.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><em>\u201cAs part of addressing the challenges presented by COVID-19, Amtrak must comply with the federal mandate effective January 4, 2022 that employees of government contractors be fully vaccinated,\u201d he noted.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><em>Gardner added that \u201cbecause many engineers, conductors and on-board service employees retired or left Amtrak during the pandemic, and we temporarily halted hiring due to funding uncertainty and covid-related distancing requirements that inhibited training, we anticipate that we will not initially have enough employees to operate all the trains we are currently operating when the federal mandate takes effect. \u2026&nbsp;This will likely necessitate temporary frequency reductions, primarily for our long-distance services.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>He also explained how this fallout will mostly be experienced \u201cacross our long-distance services because of the relatively small crew bases at intermediate points. \u2026 At some of these crew bases across our network, we have a relatively high percentage of unvaccinated employees.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The Daily Wire is fighting Joe Biden\u2019s vaccine mandate in federal court. Join us in this fight by&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/lp.dailywire.com\/osha-petition\/\">signing our petition<\/a>&nbsp;to OSHA, telling them that you will not comply with this mandate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Amtrak announced on Tuesday that it is temporarily suspending its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for workers and no longer plans to end some services in January as previously expected.An email sent to employees revealed \u201cfewer than 500 active Amtrak employees\u201d were not yet in compliance with the company\u2019s mandate set for January 4, 2022, despite an overall vaccination or accommodation rate of more than 95% among its 17,000 employees.\ud83d\udea8 Amtrak announces the company\u2019s vaccine policy is being temporarily suspended \u2014 and the change means the company no longer expects to reduce service due to worker shortage in January 2022 pic.twitter.com\/73zPNNKjXQ\u2014 Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) December 14, 2021\u201cRecently a federal district court decision halted the enforcement of the Executive Order for federal contractors. This caused the company to reevaluate our policy and to address the uncertainty about the federal requirements that apply to Amtrak,\u201d the email stated.The company has now reverted its vaccine mandate policy back to what it announced on August 11 with testing as an alternative for those who choose not to be vaccinated.Those without vaccination or an approved accommodation will be subject to weekly COVID-19 tests.\u201cAfter reviewing our system service plans in light of these changes, we do not anticipate having system-wide service impacts in January,\u201d the Amtrak email added.\u201cOur customers trust Amtrak\u2019s commitment to safety and are responding positively to the investments and improvements we are making,\u201d Amtrak CEO Bill Flynn said in a statement on Monday.\u201cWe will continue to prioritize offering a modern, safe and reliable customer experience and preparing for what should be a monumental fiscal year 2022.\u201dLast week, The Daily Wire previously reported regarding Amtrak\u2019s previous plan to cut back on services:Amtrak is getting ready to cut back on its services due in part to the enforcement of its vaccine mandate early next year.Amtrak\u2019s vaccine mandate is scheduled to be implemented January 4, and a spokesman for the company\u00a0reportedly\u00a0said that its rule will stay even if the federal vaccine mandate attempted by the Biden Administration is still barred by the courts.Amtrak President Stephen Gardner discussed the upcoming setbacks in written\u00a0testimony\u00a0for a hearing before the House Committee on Transportation &#038; Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials on Thursday.Gardner noted that 94% of the workers are fully vaccinated, and 96% have gotten at least one dose, but added that those \u201cnumbers do not include employees who are on leave of absence or have an approved accommodation.\u201d\u201cAs part of addressing the challenges presented by COVID-19, Amtrak must comply with the federal mandate effective January 4, 2022 that employees of government contractors be fully vaccinated,\u201d he noted.Gardner added that \u201cbecause many engineers, conductors and on-board service employees retired or left Amtrak during the pandemic, and we temporarily halted hiring due to funding uncertainty and covid-related distancing requirements that inhibited training, we anticipate that we will not initially have enough employees to operate all the trains we are currently operating when the federal mandate takes effect. \u2026\u00a0This will likely necessitate temporary frequency reductions, primarily for our long-distance services.\u201dHe also explained how this fallout will mostly be experienced \u201cacross our long-distance services because of the relatively small crew bases at intermediate points. \u2026 At some of these crew bases across our network, we have a relatively high percentage of unvaccinated employees.\u201dThe Daily Wire is fighting Joe Biden\u2019s vaccine mandate in federal court. Join us in this fight by\u00a0signing our petition\u00a0to OSHA, telling them that you will not comply with this mandate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":325,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1118629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1118629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/325"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1118629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1118629\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1118629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1118629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1118629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}