On September 1, when 250 workers at Emerald Packaging’s plastic bag plant near San Francisco receive the standard salary increase, people who have been fully vaccinated will receive a 3 percent increase, while those who have resisted vaccination will receive half, just 1.5 percent. . Kevin Kelly uses this method to beat the anti-vaccination workers where it could hurt them most: on their pay.
“Since the Delta version is spreading quickly and likely to affect non-vaccinated people here as well, putting everyone at risk of getting sick, this will probably be my last chance to vaccinate people,” said Kelly, CEO of Kelly’s family-owned manufacturing plant. Reuters on a specific solution. The company manager plans to tell workers on August 1 that they will have time to vaccinate themselves if they want a pay raise.
The national vaccination campaign, led by the Biden government, reached 3.3 million doses per day in mid-April and has bombed just over 500,000 doses per day since the July 4 holiday. At the current rate, most models say the state will not reach its lowest herd immunity threshold of 70 percent by the end of the year.
Now that government efforts have stalled, companies like Kelly’s are taking on the task of persuading reluctant workers to administer the vaccine.
It also needs work
Unlike much of the service sector, this opportunity does not exist for manufacturing companies and many other frontline companies, so some are trying to get people to vaccinate creatively. With orders still ballooning with the economy recovering and the supply of labor already tight, many workers fear they will lose time due to illness.
According to Reuters, the number of Covid-19 infections is rising across the country, averaging around 40,000 cases per day. That’s already 16 percent of the daily peak seen in the January pandemic, but the fast-spreading delta version is gaining traction nowadays, especially in traditionally industrialized Midwest states, where vaccination rates are lower than in coastal areas and large cities.
Would be cool or have 50 bucks here
German carmaker Daimler has opened temporary vaccination clinics at its largest sites in the United States and changed their work schedule so that employees and, in many cases, their dependents can comfortably vaccinate themselves. Deere & Co and tractor companies in Moline, Illinois, said they are not requiring their workers to give vaccinations. But employees, as well as suppliers and visitors to their sites who have not been vaccinated, should wear a mask.
It is difficult for employers to enforce action on any health issue. Incentives must be offered carefully so as not to conflict with workplace regulations that protect workers’ rights.
“We don’t make it mandatory — but we strongly encourage” our employees to get the vaccine, said Jay Baker, CEO of Jamestown Plastics. The company employs 150 people in upstate New York and refuses to offer any incentives, such as free meals or raffles, and fears peer pressure among employees will escalate into “unhealthy” pressure. “People say, ‘You got a turkey, why don’t you get a turkey, too? “
Bob Roth, co-owner of RoMan Manufacturing, a small company that makes transformers and glass forming equipment in Grand Rapids, Michigan, presented workers with a $50 “thank you” bill for picking up the syringes. The company makes such a small amount due to the whims of federal labor laws and calls it a thank you rather than a formal incentive.
Criticism has had a limited impact. Just over half of Roth’s staff received the vaccine, and the manager was shocked by the attitude of many anti-vaccination workers. Most of the arguments he’s heard are “weird,” including concerns that vaccines cause sterility or were developed too quickly. “There is no truth to support this nonsense,” Roth said.
Closing may come
Many companies fear that the growing wave of illnesses could make it more difficult to service an already bloated order book. Roth, already quoted, estimates that the volume of unfulfilled orders is three times higher than last year as stocks fell due to the shutdown and strong economic growth is now boosting demand.
At Emerald Packaging, which makes the plastic bags used to package fresh produce like pre-sliced salads, business has thrived during the pandemic. In this case, according to Kelly at the beginning of the article, there is not the slightest need for workers to fall due to infection. It is estimated that about 80 percent of its workers are vaccinated, the rest among people who are afraid of vaccinations and 10 percent of those who have been vaccinated
“Everyone loved me during the pandemic, when I did all these things for the safety of people,” Kelly said. “Now all the anti-vaccination people think I’m an idiot,” he added.
You know you’ll never reach 100 percent vaccination in your company, but you want to get closer to 90 percent. “We need our little flock of immunity,” Kelly said of how she’ll swim in the new lockdown.
