Ingalls employees hold vaccine mandate protest in Pascagoula
Vaccine mandate protests have been popping up along the Coast and employees at Ingalls Shipbuilding holding the latest one today.
Ingalls employees, their friends, and families took a stand at the Ingalls Shipbuilding grounds to fight for their rights. Rally coordinator Nolan Mann said, “Many people have left so far because they know there’s a good group of people that are going to leave and they don’t want to have to fight for jobs.”
According to the Ingalls website, employees must have received the first FDA approved Pfizer vaccine by November 3rd and the second by November 24th. If an employee plans to take the J&J single shot, it must be taken no later than November 24th.
The mandate will be put in place on December 8th and anyone still unvaccinated by then could face potential unemployment. Mississippi against Mandates Executive Director Lindsey Lemmons said, “Because this is such an unprecedented event, having these mandates come from the executive branch and they’re completely arbitrary.”
The company employs about 11,500 employees and according to the Ingalls website, 23% of the employees have yet to be vaccinated. “From everything I’ve heard, the majority of people don’t want the J&J one dose shot. So, if they aren’t getting the shot that they, and they held 23% up to now, I don’t see much of a percent change from here to the 8th.”
Many of the employees have tried to get religious or medical exceptions, but say they were denied. At the rally, Ingalls employees were offered forms to file EEOC charges of employment discrimination. “What we want to do is help both employees and employers negotiate how they meet these mandates.”
