When it comes to COVID-19, public higher ed should be as safe as private higher ed – The Boston Globe

Just before his untimely death on Thursday at age 72, AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka took an important and principled stand in favor of workplace requirements for COVID-19 vaccines, noting that rules requiring shots would make work safer for everyone. The issue of whether to embrace mandates, though, has divided the labor movement, with some unions bucking Trumkas advice and resisting mandates. As the labor movement mourns Trumkas passing, hopefully his example will help steer unions toward quickly embracing policies that will, as Trumka said, mean a safer return to work and will put labor on the side of bringing this crisis to a faster end.

In Massachusetts, and elsewhere, some unions have objected to mandates while insisting that prospective vaccine requirements go through collective bargaining, which has had the effect of slowing down their implementation. Take higher education. Many private colleges and universities have now mandated vaccines for students and staff. Theres no reason the public education environment should be any less safe than private campuses. But UMass has yet to institute a vaccine requirement for faculty and staff.

When it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine, theres no system-wide policy, said John T. Hoey, director of communications for UMass president Marty Meehan. However, all five UMass campuses are requiring undergraduate and graduate students to be vaccinated for the fall, with the usual medical and religious exceptions. Meanwhile, there is ongoing dialogue on each campus with unions and nonunion employees about the issue.

Meehan firmly believes all 24,000 UMass employees (faculty and staff) should be required to be vaccinated, except for those with medical and religious exemptions, said Hoey.

Meanwhile, Meehan issued a requirement that all 306, nonunion UMass Office of the President employees, except those with religious and medical exemptions, be fully vaccinated by September 13, the hybrid, return-to-work date. The university also intends to require vaccinations and other health and safety measures for visitors and vendors who will be in contact with the UMass community.

Each campus is negotiating with multiple unions, which represent everyone from faculty and other professional staff and clerical staff to groundskeepers and police. Some are reportedly closer than others to reaching agreement.

Whats happening with vaccine mandates in higher education is a microcosm of the bigger challenge from unions across the state. For example, Governor Charlie Baker recently issued an order requiring all nursing home and soldiers home workers to get fully vaccinated by October 10. Mandates in health care settings are especially crucial, but unions that represent nursing home workers are resisting the mandate. At a time when nursing home workers are short-staffed and healing from the trauma they experienced, they shouldnt suffer economic hardship due to delaying vaccination, Marlishia Aho, a spokesperson for 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, told Commonwealth magazine.

Baker, so far, has resisted vaccine mandates for state workers. The idea that I would kick somebody out of a job especially in a kind of economy we have now because, quote unquote, they wouldnt get vaccinated right away on an [Emergency Use Authorization]-approved vaccine No, Im not gonna play that game, Baker said in May. Meanwhile, Attorney General Maura Healey, state Auditor Suzanne Bump, and Treasurer Deborah Goldberg recently implemented mandates for their own employees.

Last month, WBUR reported that at least 65 Massachusetts colleges and universities would require students to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. According to WBUR, at least 23 would also require on-campus faculty and staff to be vaccinated. Vaccine mandates at public universities have been an issue across the country, sometimes because of the politics of an individual governor, but also because such a requirement is considered a change in working condition.

Yet some union leaders understand the larger issue at stake: International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers and the teachers union in New York City, for instance, have both supported mandate policies. During a July 28 interview on C-SPANs The Washington Journal, Trumka said, Yes we do, when asked if the AFL-CIO supports vaccine mandates. If you are coming back into the workplace, you have to know whats around you. He went on to say that everybody in the workplace would be jeopardized if a worker is not vaccinated.

Thats Public Health and Safety 101. Recognizing the critical importance of one of Trumkas last decisions would be a fitting tribute to him.

Editorials represent the views of the Boston Globe Editorial Board. Follow us on Twitter at @GlobeOpinion.

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When it comes to COVID-19, public higher ed should be as safe as private higher ed - The Boston Globe