On Thursday, September 9, President Biden issued an executive order mandating that all federal workers, including those working remotely, must be vaccinated against Covid-19 by November 22 or risk disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment. FMA is not a union and does not possess the collective bargaining rights possessed by unions. However, we are regularly attending meetings with the Safer Federal Workforce task force to advocate on your behalf. We have two main priorities in this: One priority is to ensure the physical health and wellbeing of federal employees. The other, equally important, is ensuring that your rights as a federal employee are respected.

Our members fear a great number of employees will be willfully non-compliant with the vaccine mandate. Managers in the field will do their best to implement this plan but warn we should expect to see a great number of employees utilizing the discipline system at their locations, and ultimately leaving the federal workforce. That means missions, such as repairing ships and submarines, will not be met. This is a very real security issue that will play out over the coming months and is extremely concerning. We are regularly voicing this issue, and are doing everything possible to secure timely, clear, and fair guidelines that take the burden from managers. We have also been able to secure meetings with OPM separate from the broader meetings that the unions are invited to, which gives us greater access and ability to speak frankly on your behalf.

With the deadline for to be fully vaccinated rapidly approaching, the window is closing fast. It is already too late to be fully vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine before November 22^nd, but full and comprehensive guidance has still not been issued to federal employees. Every hour counts for this and keeping on the task force to deliver is a top priority for us.

FMA held a forum to take questions and concerns from our membership about this issue. The recording of the forum can be viewed here. The absence of the collective bargaining rights means that the tools at our disposal in this specific matter are limited. What we can do, and are continuing to do, is to advocate for clear and complete guidance for implementation, including medical exemptions for those who need them. We will continue to advocate strenuously on your behalf with all the tools available to us.