Ingalls suspends vaccine mandate, fearing termination of many unvaccinated workers
In order to avoid losing a significant portion of its workforce, Mississippi Gulf Coast-based Ingalls Shipbuilding on Tuesday suspended a mandate that employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 or risk losing their jobs.
Huntington Ingalls Industries President and CEO Mike Petters confirmed in a letter sent to workers that contracts at Ingalls Shipbuilding “do not include a requirement to implement the mandate,” at a time when 20% of its 11,500 Pascagoula-based employees would face termination on Jan. 4, the deadline for federal contractors to be fully vaccinated.
Ingalls has been operating according to the requests of its customers, the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard. Recent clarification over these contracts allowed the company to “not include a requirement to implement the mandate,” according to the letter, so as to not lose any employees.
Ingalls has been communicating with its customers on the contractual direction of the mandate since Nov. 1, when the Biden administration released updated guidance allowing federal contractors to have broader leeway in enforcing the shots.
“We have sought clarification from our customers about how our many contracts would need to be modified and re-priced to reflect this new requirement,” the letter reads. “We have not wanted to lose a single employee to the virus, or to the effect of the mandate.”
Members of a growing resistance movement of Ingalls employees and other supporters — which has triggered impending legal action — count the vaccination mandate suspension as a victory following their grassroots attempts at countering the employer’s requirements.
State Sen. Chris McDaniel, one of the leading voices against the Ingalls mandate, said the vaccination pause could be attributed to the steadfast resistance of the anti-mandate workers and legal pressures.
“I think it was the combination of the pressure being applied by the workers, and naturally the problematic legal issues that are arising,” said McDaniel, a Republican who represents Mississippi’s 42nd District.
“I think that the lawyers representing Ingalls are beginning to recognize, just like other employers, that there is some exposure here, particularly if the mandate is pressed with an arbitrary deadline.”
The announcement comes after a New Orleans federal appeals court on Friday upheld its decision to pause an order by President Joe Biden for companies with 100 workers or more to require COVID vaccines.
The ruling rejects the Biden administration’s Nov. 8 challenge to the court’s original ruling against a vaccine mandate for private businesses, stating the order could cost dozens of lives every day.
The Fifth Circuit Court’s decision also questioned whether the mandate is legal or constitutional, a concept Republican lawmakers in Mississippi have recently grappled with.
Suspension may not be permanent
The suspension of the vaccine mandate could be reversed if the customer, the federal government, requires the shots as a contractual condition, Petters’ letter states.
“We are monitoring the fluid situation closely with our shipyard customers, and if the mandate becomes a contractual requirement, we will proceed accordingly,” he wrote. “We continue to strongly urge vaccination of all employees.”
The fluidity of the suspension has left McDaniel and some of his colleagues on offense in their ongoing battle against vaccine mandates. The senator said he will continue to fight the mandates legally, but also legislatively.
The possibility of legislative rebuttal to a mandate is now open due to the suspension. Previously, the Jan. 4 shot deadline came before the Mississippi Legislature convened for the 2021-22 session when lawmakers could block the vaccine requirements with a bill. McDaniel said he is planning to file legislation against vaccine mandates and has “quite a bit” of support from his colleagues on passing them.
“Our position is to keep working, not only the litigation aspects but also the possibility now of legislation arising when we convene in January,” McDaniel said. “Legislation will be forthcoming. And I hope that my colleagues agree to pass it, agree to support it.”
This story was originally published November 17, 2021 at 1:42 PM.
