Monday, October 11, 2021

Is resistance to COVID-19 mandates reaching critical mass?

 

I wasn't in the least surprised to hear rumors - as yet unconfirmed by the Federal Aviation Administration, and ignored by the mainstream media so far, but confirmed to me by a friend who's an air traffic controller in a major center - that most of the controllers in the Jacksonville, Florida, air traffic center allegedly walked off the job on Friday in protest against the mandate to undergo the COVID-19 vaccination.  A similar problem is reported to have occurred in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, although I've not been able to confirm that yet.

Southwest Airlines seems to be deep in the dwang over their vaccination mandate.  Bloomberg reports:


Southwest Airlines Co. pilots asked a court to temporarily block the company from carrying out federally mandated coronavirus vaccinations until an existing lawsuit over alleged U.S. labor law violations is resolved.

The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association’s filing Friday also asked for an immediate hearing on the request before a federal court in Dallas, claiming the carrier has continued to take unilateral actions that violate terms of the Railway Labor Act, which governs airline-union relations. Those steps include the Covid-19 vaccination requirement.

“The new vaccine mandate unlawfully imposes new conditions of employment and the new policy threatens termination of any pilot not fully vaccinated by December 8, 2021,” the legal filing said. “Southwest Airlines’ additional new and unilateral modification of the parties’ collective bargaining agreement is in clear violation of the RLA.”

Southwest set the deadline on Oct. 4 under a federal vaccination mandate for employees of companies holding contracts with the U.S. government.


There's more at the link.

It appears the pilots there aren't restricting themselves to legal action.  Southwest had to cancel up to 2,000 flights this past weekend, citing various reasons (including the ATC problems referred to above, weather, etc.)  However, the weather in the cancellation area was reportedly good to excellent, so fliers who found their flights cancelled are not amused by that excuse.  Instead, there are widespread reports (again, not in the mainstream media, which appears to be trying to cover up such news) that "large numbers of Southwest pilots are not showing up to work in protest over the vaccine mandate".  Some sources claim that Southwest employees are using up all the sick time they've accumulated, in an attempt to put pressure on the airline.

Another report notes:


Essentially, the union cannot organize or even acknowledge the sickout, because doing so would make it an illegal job action. Years ago, Southwest and its pilots had a rough negotiation, and the union would not even let the pilots internally discuss the possibility of working-to-rule (which would have slowed Southwest to a crawl).

But at the moment the pilots don’t even have to talk to each other about what they’re doing. The anger internally - not just among pilots but other Southwest workers - is enormous. The tough prior negotiations notwithstanding, Southwest has a history of decent labor relations, and workers believe the company should stand up for them against the mandate. Telling pilots in particular to comply or face termination has backfired.


Again, more at the link, and in this report, which I highly recommend you read.

One has to feel some sympathy for Southwest.  They're in a no-win situation.  Like hospitals, they take government money under contract, so they're legally obliged to implement the vaccination mandate;  but a large proportion of their staff appear to feel differently.  (I don't blame the pilots, given a recent whistleblower warning that flight crew risk sudden and potentially fatal cardiac complications from the vaccine, perhaps even while in the air.)  A disease like that means the automatic, immediate and probably permanent loss of flight medical status.  Southwest pilots have reportedly complained that their disability insurance does not cover such issues, meaning that their careers might be destroyed almost overnight, with no compensation or guarantee of future income or medical treatment as a result.  The vaccine manufacturers can't be sued for such expenses, because they have legal immunity against lawsuits or prosecution.  In the pilots' shoes, I wouldn't be terribly happy about that either.

Needless to say, progressive left-wing pundits are anything but thrilled by such resistance.  Here's just one over-the-top reaction from Twitter:



The author of the Palmer Report adds:  "These loons are about to lose their jobs, and rightly so. But they shouldn’t ever be trusted in positions of security or influence again. I’ve said for years that right wing extremists can’t be trusted in positions of influence, due to their mental incompetence. They keep proving me right."  Well, sucks to be him, I guess...  I'm on the pilots' side.

I saw a rumor on Gab that "the ferry they use [in Seattle, WA] is now unreliable because of staff shortages due to the mandate".  That's been confirmed by the mainstream media, although whether the shortage has been caused by actual illness among staff members, or by resistance to the mandate to be vaccinated, has not been made clear.  The report simply cites "COVID-related staffing shortages".

Another friend who's a long-haul trucker (an owner/operator) told me over the weekend that "thousands" of drivers are now refusing to schedule loads to states that are imposing, or will soon impose, COVID vaccination mandates on transport workers (including some of the biggest states in the country, like New York and California).  He says he's personally been "begged" by several customers who are "desperate" for drivers.  He claims they've even offered him significant sums of money to get the jab so he can drive their cargoes;  but he's having none of it, thanks to the widely-reported incidence of problems with the vaccines (well over 500,000 so far in the USA alone).  He says it helps that the backlog of freight is so great that he can pick and choose which loads he carries, and which he rejects.

He also told me that many drivers for the big trucking companies are getting more and more adamant with their bosses that if they insist on vaccination, they're going to walk out, and go to work for companies in states that have greater respect for their right to choose.  Given the current shortage of drivers (about a 60,000 shortfall since 2019 and rapidly getting worse, particularly in the light of current supply chain problems), he doesn't think they'll have much trouble finding work.  Meanwhile, states that have imposed mandates for truck drivers to be vaccinated are said to be already finding incoming truck traffic dropping off significantly - to the distress of businesses there, which can't get their orders in on time or in sufficient quantity.

Many hospitals are complaining about staff shortages, but they're not admitting that a primary cause is the vaccination mandate.  One nurse who's quit rather than take it has spilled the beans, and I've had that confirmed by a couple of local nurses who've also resigned rather than be vaccinated.  It's said that hospitals across the country are being forced to close entire wards, or shut down the provision of certain medical services, because they can't get enough vaccinated staff to run them.  (The hospitals have no choice but to impose the vaxx mandate, because if they don't, they won't be paid by Medicare or Medicaid.)  By some estimates, approximately 20% of nursing jobs are currently vacant, with no takers - and it's getting worse.

On the other hand, nurses and doctors who've quit rather than be vaccinated are now being offered jobs in practices and institutions that don't take government money, and can therefore afford to be less doctrinaire and restrictive.  To cite just one example, this advertisement has been appearing on Gab in recent days:



I know of several families in need of visiting nurse care who've made private arrangements with nurses who don't want to be vaccinated.  They're working unofficially, without registering as home health care providers, and being paid in cash "under the table".  Good for them, as far as I'm concerned!  They charge lower rates, which saves the families money;  but they actually make more money than they used to, because they don't face all the deductions that a hospital would take out of their pay.  When medications or supplies are needed, they're bought outside the regular channels (which isn't hard to do in most cases - one can save quite a lot of money that way).  Everybody's happy except the bureaucrats.

I've also been told, by a nurse at a major hospital in a very big city a couple of hours' drive from here, that there's quiet, unofficial collusion among the staff to avoid vaccination by accepting an injection of saline solution instead.  The official vaccination card is filled in with what they should have received, but in reality they're walking out with a little salty water in their veins instead.  In sheer desperation, some hospitals needing to hire travel nurses are said to be issuing them with (and registering with the authorities) brand-new COVID-19 "passports" that are completely fraudulent, not even going through the pretense of a saline injection.  My informant told me that without such covert "work-arounds", her hospital would have had to shut down more than half of its departments.

More and more, I'm getting the feeling that there's a broad-based grass-roots groundswell of opposition building to the Biden administration's dogmatic, doctrinaire insistence on using the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to impose rigid, authoritarian controls on society.  I think it's beginning to backfire on them in more and more ways, and I think they're panicking.  After all, without the excuse of COVID-19 to justify their autocratic shenanigans, their whole program falls apart.  May it do so quickly!  I suspect the ubiquitous public chants of "F*** Joe Biden!", and the hilarious meme of "Let's Go Brandon!" (which is now being merchandised, apparently by the truckload) are yet more evidence of widespread and growing public disdain for this administration and its progressive-left preoccupations.

I entirely approve of this meme that began circulating last week.  Clickit to biggit.




Amen!

Peter


17 comments:

Grey Man said...

I have an in at Union Pacific. They are planning for up to 30% of their train engineers and dispatchers to refuse the vax and walk. Check out the map of their rail lines to see the implications of this.

Divemedic said...

I can confirm that there was a health worker shortage before COVID. It is worse now. There are people refusing the COVID vaccine. I am working with one today. I haven't turned in my bax card,nor have they asked for it. No word from the hospital at all on the mandate.
Some workers are faking it. Saline injections, cards filled out without the vaccine being administered, all of it.

Steve S said...

As far as federal dollars to SW goes, from another post...
"Meanwhile, Southwest has more flexibility than it has acknowledged. Federal contracts represent about 3 percent of its revenue, but even the Biden administration CANNOT alter existing contracts (please note, I have not checked this, though it seems reasonable); Southwest is only at risk of losing future contracts."
https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/urgent-a-southwest-airlines-pilot/comments

John in Indy said...

A good friend who runs an ER in a large hospital in a major city Southwest of you said that her ER is slammed, and her ICU/CCU beds are full, but that the cause was being so short-staffed that 40% of the ICU/CCU beds were empty because there were no nurses to staff them, and that the regular hospital was in the same fix.
This is the HR version of the failure of just-in-time manufacturing, and outsourcing of vital skills and components.
And today, the Bidiots announced the idea to solve the shortage of critical personnel (Drs, RNs, pilots, etc) by calling them up from the National Guard.
Where to these cretins think that such Guardsmen work, when they are not pulling Guard duty?
John in Indy

Maniac said...

"Bad weather" my ass.

You might want to stock up on nonperishable food while it still costs less than $100.

7916 said...

Faking the !vax as a healthcare worker is like collaborating with an enemy. Giving !vax injections which you would not personally take because you see the harm they do is no different than first degree murder; premeditated and for money.

Those who faked it should have walked off. The closure of the hospital is far more preferable because it would have prevented more evil being done. This action simply extends the damage and makes it far worse.

Glypto Dropem said...

I work in EMS and have not (AND WILL NOT) been jabbed because I believe I have #NaturalImmunity after having what I am pretty sure was the ChiCom-Bug in early March 2020, BEFORE it was supposedly in the U.S. I caught it from my wife, who was exposed to many world travelers through her work place. Since then, I have been exposed to many COVID positive patients, as well as almost daily trips to hospital ER's and have not even had a case of the sniffles. When I see my doctor again in November, I will request an anti-body blood test to be included with my labs. If either the state or my employer decides to mandate a jab for a job, they will have to accept my lab report or I will file a religious exemption. If they deny that, then I make them fire me. Fire me and I join the growing class action lawsuits. Believe me, my employer will not want to go through the "discovery" phase, because it will cost them hundreds of thousands in fines, penalties, and back pay.

rognuald said...

Scott Adams said that shipbuilding for the US Navy is in trouble because of the mandates. I haven't been able to confirm this yet.

Xoph said...

And what do you suppose the response of an Authoritarian Regime is going to be to non-compliance. We Non-Vaxers will be labeled terrorists. We will be labeled as responsible for shutting down healthcare, trucking, airlines, etc. so that granny is starving in an unheated nursing home. We will be the cause of inflation, food shortages, etc.

I anticipate the Feds will be mandating Vax Passports fairly soon for interstate travel, mass transit, access to brick and mortar stores. If they go with the terrorist designation then bank accounts will be frozen. This is about power and breaking the opposition. I'm sure there is a correlation between Trump voters and anti-vaxxers. Terrorists aren't allowed to vote. How can Xiden resist?

Winterborn said...

Angry Cops on Youtube did a great rant/video on this. Best part was his doing the skit (by himself) as "Private Potatoe of the Space Force" who just graduated AIT... and is here to give you Motrin. Sorry, cant take an X-ray, not qualified. And may kill you with a tourniquet.

Go Private Potato(e)!

Erik Wingren said...

Re: 500,000 VAERS incident reports, I'm actually pleased to find out there have been so many. That number is just reports, incidents that all need to be followed up and investigated to find out of if the vaccine is actually the problem. Clearly every medical issue that has happened post being vaccinated has not been reported, with how many tens of millions of doses administered and with -every- adverse event post vaccination needing to be reported, I can't imagine that 500,000 covers them all. I'm also aware that many medical people don't even know how to submit the reports, I've seen an interview with Deborah Conrad PA and hospitalist who worked like crazy to help people at her hospital file VAERS. Yes it's one example, but -- her administration shut her down told her only the direct caregiver could file the reports, she wasn't allowed to do it for them. Thirty minutes a piece to file in an archaic user interface that if you time out, loses your progress. She knows (and I know and you know) a HUGE number of reports are not being filed. She's been let go, since, for not shutting up about it, as I recall.

Since then I've heard that the VAERS standard has been changed, that reports for covid vaccinations are not supposed to be filed until two weeks after the second shot, 'because you aren't vaccinated until then.' I have not confirmed that, but I believe it. More anecdotes: I saw an interview with a lady who wanted her miscarriage reported. The Doc refused because "the vaccine is safe, that can't be it."

And then I stop to think wait, VAERS has been set up to handle a normal flow of reports mostly from pediatricians, maybe a few pharmacists? And now they're administering a HUGE new volume of vaccinations. Do you think VAERS staffing and budget have gone up to support follow up on the increased volume of reports, even if it is only a fraction of what should be reported?

Johnnyreb said...

When all this mandate stuff started I recall reading on the net somewhere the tale of what happened in the military after 9-11 when they were ORDERED to take the anthrax vaccine. There were deaths, not sure how many, and long term health problems, lots of them.

And then people in the military started refusing, giving up their pensions, getting court martialed, etc. Still don't know the number of dead/injured from that. But the part I recall best is that the military lost 20% of their active duty pilots, esp the senior ones from people just plain quiting in refusal to take the Anthrax vaccine. And it was supposed to be worse in the guard and reserve. I spoke recently with a man here that is a retired Air Force Lt. Cool. He confirmed it was that bad.

I work for the Post Office myself. The union really surprised me with how fast they stood against a vaccine mandate, since they have never, ever to my knowledge advised any postal worker to vote for anyone but a democrat.

Personally, I think they had an attack of intelligence and understood that the day after we were ordered to submit, national mail service would GRIND TO A HALT from half or more of us postal workers refusing to comply. It got me to thinking that when we are told the numbers of those who have vaxed, I keep hearing it is 70% over and over again. I think they are lying about that too just like they lie about everything else.

At least, where I work it isn't most that have vaxed, it is most THAT WILL NOT. All told there are 15 people here, 4 clerks, 9 carriers, the truck driver and the boss. We get ordered to vax or else, it will be 1 clerk, 2-3 carriers, and no truck driver. That's the ones who have said they got vaxed, plus 1 carrier who actually had covid for a week. So I think we got excused from the mandate because those scum know that even their pet media could not fail to mention half or more of the Post Office staying home and nothing getting delivered.

Also, back when that one carrier got it, the rules said everyone in contact with him went home for 2 weeks quarantine. That would have been all of us. The boss and all of us just ignored that and stayed at work and nobody higher up said a thing about it.

Maniac said...

Johnny, in your opinion, why were postal workers exempt from the mandate?

Glypto Dropem said...

"This is about power and breaking the opposition. I'm sure there is a correlation between Trump voters and anti-vaxxers. Terrorists aren't allowed to vote. How can Xiden resist?"

@Xoph: They take away the ballot box, we pull out the cartridge box.

Nick Flandrey said...

" (The hospitals have no choice but to impose the vaxx mandate, because if they don't, they won't be paid by Medicare or Medicaid.) "

--Hi Peter, that's the second place in the post you say they have no choice, but of course they DO have a choice. If fedgov alters the contract, the contract is broken. Proceed from that assumption, throw lawyers at it, and stop providing the services that aren't being paid for (or start with that as a threat). Sucks for the patients, but it sucks for the patients ANYWAY (as the staff goes away), and proves the point that depending on other people to pay your way in this life isn't the smartest thing to do.

We are ALL going to be on our own, with only the relationships/networks we build ourselves, and the 'stuff' we have put up for our use or our loved ones.

Accept the reality of what that means and plan accordingly.

nick

Nahanni said...

I think it's because they know what is really going on.

Ask yourself why The White House staff, legislative and judiciary branches of the federal government, the CDC, Pfizer and Moderna employees, USPS, etc. are all exempt from the mandate. Democrat politicians, celebrities, etc. aren't required to get it, either. Gabbin Noisome isn't allowing his kid to get it but is requiring all the kids in Cali to get it.

One would think that if the "scary disease of unknown origin" was as bad as they are screeching it is the above entities would demand compliance with the Pedophile in chief's dictats.

This whole situation is proof positive that mankind's greatest sense is the sense of smell.

Here's another thought for you to ponder. They want us to drop carbon emissions to pre industrial levels by 2030. That means, essentially, everyone (but the elites, of course) will be forced to live a 16th century agrarian existence with ALL that entails. They know that's impossible because people won't put up with it and they can't control 7 billion people. They have to get the number of people way down. The easiest way to do that is with a disease.

John T. Block said...

Peter - Juan Browne of the "Blancolirio" channel on U-tube is a 777 pilot. One of his latest vids goes into the personnel probs, both flight crews and ground handlers that shows pilots are overworked, and calling in because they are just too worn out to be safe in the air... very informative.