August 25, 2021

Brothers and Sisters, 

As I write this update, United has provided answers to questions we brought forth last week. The answers are extremely disappointing. The company is giving no consideration to the sacrifices you’ve made to date to keep this airline running. As previously stated, the IBT fully supports getting the vaccine and we are encouraging our members to take the vaccine. However, the mandatory nature and the short timeframe is putting you, our dedicated and essential members, in peril of losing your career. I believe given what you’ve done for this company throughout the pandemic, this action is completely unconscionable. 

We have offered solutions to the company that would aid our folks in transitioning into retirement or to limit the draconian measure of termination. These measures have been met with stubborn resistance. 

We took our time reviewing all legal paths. Based on that research, the IBT does not want to give you a false sense of hope that we may prevail in court. The constitutionality of mandatory vaccines was upheld in the 1905 Supreme Court decision Jacobson v. Massachusetts. That case was then reaffirmed in the 1922 Zucht v. King decision. In a recent challenge to a Covid 19 vaccine mandate, Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett denied emergency review of Indiana University’s vaccine mandate, thus maintaining the lower courts’ decisions upholding the mandate. These cases implicated concerns regarding the constitutionality of mandates because they involved state actions rather than the private sector. 

Recently a couple of high-profile actions have taken place regarding private (i.e. non-governmental) company mandates. A federal court in Texas has dismissed a lawsuit challenging a mandatory vaccination program by a private employer in the case Jennifer Bridges v. Houston Methodist Hosp. Similarly, a lawsuit filed by a group of pilots at United was dismissed on procedural grounds. In his ruling, the judge noted that even if the procedural defects were fixed, the pilots were unlikely to succeed based on the merits. 

Our legal team has also explored a legal strategy of filing a lawsuit to compel United to bargain with us over this mandate.  However, their analysis has concluded that any such lawsuit has very little chance of success. 

Given that the courts are not granting relief to employees at private companies, our alternative is to represent you in the grievance procedure using the just-cause standards. 

If you have seriously held religious objections or valid medical reasons for objections to the mandate, file them now. The EEOC has determined that those two exceptions are required in any mandated vaccine policy.

In solidarity,

Vinny Graziano

Coordinator Technician and Related

Airline Division 

International Brotherhood of Teamsters