In the 2021 reality of ever-increasing federal government overreach, the leaders in Washington, D.C., have established a new “best practice” standard which attempts to control government workers through fear.
Millions of hardworking federal workers and contractors have been thoroughly, nearly weekly, reminded that “discipline and possible termination” are the consequences for failure to comply with Executive Order 14043, aka the "vaccine mandate.”
As a federal employee, this fear hits home. Opposite but equal concerns go through my mind day and night:
“Am I willing to lose my career, my benefits, my pension, and my financial stability over a shot?”
“Am I willing to let the government fear-mongering intimidate me to do something against my will?”
Since July, one thing has been abundantly clear: they are making up the rules as they go along. When the executive order was signed, there was no forethought as to how to actually implement or enforce the order. This resulted in weeks of confusion and frustration.
Further adding to the emotional roller-coaster many feds are experiencing, administration-appointed leaders are refusing to negotiate with the AFGE and other unions on this blatantly obvious “change in conditions of employment.”
With an economy already on the brink of catastrophe, can the largest employer in America really afford to terminate tens of thousands of employees? Has the economic consequence of this action even been considered?
Most feds have little faith in their respective agency's willingness to process reasonable accommodation requests on a fair and individual basis. They have even less faith that courts will uphold any future litigation.
All the while, agencies continue to send “reminders” of vaccine deadlines in order to satisfy the “fully-vaccinated” status deadline of November 22. Pressure is mounting, and under the guise of “health and safety” the fear of fines, discipline, and eventual termination for refusal to follow what many believe to be an unlawful executive order is ever present.
This fear quickly turns to anger, because Congress and their staffers (as well as those who are receiving federal benefits) are not subject to the mandate. Anger is turning to tenacity, as many feds are following in the footsteps of nurses, pilots, and law enforcement officers from around the country who are refusing to be intimidated by a government called to be “by the people, for the people.”
Once feds began filing for medical and religious reasonable accommodation, the administration was quick to again change the rules, potentially even violating Title VII in the process, by telling government workers via the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force: “Agencies may still fire employees with otherwise valid exemptions if the employees are in certain types of jobs where no other safety protocol would be sufficient.” The government is essentially breaking its own laws out of concern for “your safety."
This is all yet another example of federal government overreach that has no basis in the U.S. Constitution, and one that Congress will never address on their own. This is why the Convention of States is the only solution big enough to fix the problem.
-A Fed-Up Fed
This article was submitted by an anonymous federal worker and supporter of Convention of States.
