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12/15/2021
Amtrak yesterday retreated from its COVID-19 vaccination policy that required all employees to be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4.
In a memo to employees, Amtrak CEO Bill Flynn said the railroad will revert to its vaccination policy announced in August, which will allow for testing on an interim basis as an alternative to getting vaccinated.
Amtrak had adjusted its initial vaccine policy in September after President Joe Biden issued an executive order requiring employees of federal contractors to be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4. Amtrak is a federal contractor.
But recently, a federal district judge in Georgia temporarily halted enforcement of the executive order, prompting Amtrak to re-evaluate its policy.
"As a result, Amtrak will offer testing for those employees who have already received an accommodation to our vaccine policy and for those currently unvaccinated employees. This will be in effect while the executive order is not being enforced," Flynn's memo stated.
When it established its initial policy in August, about half of Amtrak's workforce was vaccinated.
"Today, 95.7% of our employees are either fully vaccinated or have an accommodation," Flynn wrote. "When we include employees who have reported getting at least one vaccine dose, this number climbs to 97.3%."
BNSF Railway Co., Norfolk Southern Railway and Union Pacific Railroad have also revisited their vaccination policies since the federal district judge's ruling. All three Class Is are federal contractors, and as such had required employees to be fully vaccinated by the federal deadline.
BNSF paused its implementation of its COVID-19 vaccination mandate on Dec. 8, spokeswoman Amy Casas said in an email.
"With this ruling impacting all BNSF locations — and considering BNSF's stance remains that the decision to be vaccinated is a personal one — we cannot continue the current path without more certainty about the timing and enforcement of the federal contractor mandate," she added.
NS is continuing to encourage its employees to get vaccinated, but pending resolution of legal challenges of the mandate the company "will not pursue disciplinary action against employees at this time who do not comply with the government’s deadline to be vaccinated or request an accommodation," an NS spokesperson said in an email.
Given the judge's ruling, "UP is complying with the temporary suspension of the federal contractor vaccine mandate," said Susan Stevens, communications manager, in an email.
Like BNSF and NS, UP is continuing to encourage its employees to get vaccinated.
"As of Dec. 8, 73% of employees are fully vaccinated and another 7% are in progress," Stevens said.