Employee organizing rally at 3M plant over federal vaccine mandate
When given the option to get the vaccine or quit, some workers at the 3M plant in Valley, said they'd rather go with the latter.
One man is organizing a rally outside the plant to make their voices heard that they want the vaccine to be their choice, not a requirement.
The company is enforcing a mandate put in place by President Joe Biden.
"I’ve raised six kids by working at 3M, a lot of that time my wife was able to stay home,” Dave Redding said.
Dave Redding said he spent the past 22 years at the 3M plant in Valley.
“I’ve got a lot of time, and sweat, and energy invested in my career there,” Redding said.
But that may all come to an end soon because 3M is requiring all employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Redding said he's already had the virus and believes his natural immunity is enough.
“It’s really sad to me that I have to give all that up for something I believe in,” Redding said.
He said his wife and children are vaccinated. They, and members of his church, want him to get the vaccine too.
In talking with co-workers about the mandate, he said he found a common frustration.
“Everyone that I talked to was opposed to it, some of them had already been vaccinated but they were still opposed to other people being forced to do it. Everyone could agree that they didn’t think it was right for your employer or the government to mandate it,” Redding said.
So, Redding's organizing a rally at the plant.
"We're going to do it between shift change, we really don’t want to interrupt the workflow of our plant but we want to make our voices heard that we're in opposition to this vaccine mandate,” Redding said.
In a statement, a 3M spokesperson said "We intend to comply with the mandate. As a federal contractor with more than 100 employees. 3M is obligated to follow the federal vaccines requirement." They add that 3M does not have the option to offer testing because it is a federal contractor.
“I think I’ve decided I’m going to wait for them to fire me, to me that gives me more of a legal avenue if it were ever to be overturned,” Redding said.
He's hopeful someone will file a lawsuit that declares the mandate unconstitutional. Redding adds he’s at peace with whatever may happen with his employment.
“Sometimes your values are worth more than money,” Redding said,
The federal requirement will come as a rule from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and could include penalties of $14,000 per violation.
Redding said he hasn't gotten many details from 3M about how it plans to enforce the mandate or a deadline for vaccination.