Dozens of Southwest Airlines employees marched on the company’s headquarters in Dallas to protest the corporation’s strict vaccine mandate, according to a Washington Examiner report.
The protest consisted of current and former employees, as well as some others concerned with medical freedom.
According to the corporation’s vaccine mandate, all employees must be fully vaccinated by Dec. 8 or risk losing their jobs.
Signs contained messages such as “Terminate the Mandate,” “No Jabs for Jobs,” and “Freedom not Force.”
“I think it’s fairly well known our CEO is trying to mandate for all the employees, and this just all the employee groups represented here today,” a Southwest pilot said in a video.
“No vaccines should be required. No medical tyranny should be allowed at Southwest Airlines,” he said. “We are the love airline, the airline of freedom.”
Though corporate leaders have often acted as if their hands are tied, not all airlines have complied with President Joe Biden‘s mandate.
Delta Air Lines, for example, announced this week that it would not require vaccination for its employees.
In some instances, it is hard to believe that CEOs really oppose the mandate, despite their rhetoric.
Southwest CEO Gary Kelly excused himself, blaming the federal government for his unwillingness to protect his employees.
“I’ve never been in favor of corporations imposing that kind of a mandate,” Kelly claimed last week in an interview, when asked about the company’s decision to require vaccination.
“I’m not in favor of that. Never have been,” he continued. “But the executive order from President Biden mandates that all federal employees and then all federal contractors, which covers all the major airlines, have to have a [vaccine] mandate … in place by Dec. 8, so we’re working through that.”
