On Friday, January 21, 2022, a federal district court in Texas issued an order temporarily halting implementation of the COVID-19 vaccine requirement for federal employees under Executive Order 14043. The Department of Justice filed an appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals the same day.
The Safer Federal Workforce Task Force has issued a statement that “the Federal Government will take no action to implement or enforce” the vaccination requirement. According to statements from EPA management, only 9 employees across all 4 chapters of NTEU at EPA (out of 57 total EPA employees, agency-wide) have not complied with the mandate (by either proof of vaccination or a request for an exemption). It is possible that these employees already received warning letters prior to the injunction, but according to Deputy Administrator McCabe’s email today, all such actions are now suspended. Further, the Agency has stopped processing the requests for medical or religious exemptions that were submitted.
If you need help with any notice of enforcement or pending exemption request, bargaining unit employees at HQ can reach Chapter 280 by email to info@nteu280.org.