Labor Week: TN, WY Lawmakers Taking Aim at Vaccine Mandates & More

TN Lawmakers Target COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates:

By the start of Tennessee’s special session on coronavirus legislation last week, nearly 100 bills had been filed. But the ones most likely to be passed are those sponsored by House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R) and Lt. Gov. Randy McNally (R), who rarely sponsor bills themselves.

Measures carried by the two include those that would bar private entities from requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination and make those who leave their jobs because of a COVID-19 vaccine requirement eligible for unemployment benefits. (TENNESSEAN [NASHVILLE])

Federal Vaccine Mandate Draws Attention from WY Lawmakers:

Nine bills introduced in a special session in Wyoming reference the vaccine mandate proposed by the Biden administration that would require businesses with more than 100 employees to mandate COVID-19 vaccination or weekly testing for those workers. The bills (HB 1001, HB 1002, HB 1005, HB 1006, HB 1009, HB 1013, SB 1003a, SB 1004a and SB 1009a) basically propose varying approaches for limiting the effectiveness of the mandate, including prohibiting its enforcement and making workers who lose their jobs over a vaccine requirement eligible for unemployment benefits. (COWBOY STATE DAILY [LANDER], STATE NET)

Meatpacking Worker COVID-19 Cases, Deaths Much Higher than Previously Estimated: A survey conducted by a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee found that through January of this year 59,147 workers at the nation’s leading meatpackers contracted COVID-19 and 269 of those workers died. A widely circulated previous estimate by the Food and Environment Reporting Network (FERN) had placed those numbers at 22,694 and 88, respectively. (REUTERS)

KY Workers Quitting at Highest Rate in Nation: With 84,000 residents having left their jobs in August, Kentucky had the highest quit rate - the number of residents who quit their jobs during a full month as a percentage of total employment - in the country that month, at 4.5 percent. But over 100,000 residents were also hired in August, giving the state the nation’s fifth-highest hire rate. (LOUISVILLE COURIER JOURNAL)

Unvaccinated Pilots Costing United Airlines Millions: United Airlines Inc. has been spending about $1.4 million every two weeks on paid leave for unvaccinated pilots because their colleagues refuse to fly with them. That revelation came in a federal court filing in Forth Worth, Texas, where the airline is fighting a legal challenge to its vaccine mandate for all U.S.-based employees. (BLOOMBERG)

-- Compiled by KOREY CLARK