Nov. 10, 2021

By William Ehart

Eight national associations and three state-based trucking groups have sued to block the Biden administration's vaccine mandate for employers with at least 100 workers.

"We are deeply concerned about the timing for implementing the (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) vaccine mandate during the most important season of the year for retailers and customers," National Retail Federation CEO Matthew Shay said in a statement Tuesday. "Our members are already facing workforce shortages and supply chain disruptions, in addition to the legal and practical challenges of implementing this ETS during the holiday season.

"The December 6 deadline to provide proof of employee vaccination status and the January 4 deadline for testing unvaccinated employees are both unworkable and virtually impossible. We have consistently and repeatedly communicated our concerns about the practical challenges of meeting those arbitrary targets. However, it appears that our only remaining course of action is to petition for judicial relief," Shay said.

In addition to NRF, the petitioners in the lawsuit are the American Trucking Associations, FMI—The Food Industry Association, the International Warehouse Logistics Association, the National Association of Convenience Stores, the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors. the International Foodservice Distributors Association, the National Federation of Independent Business, and associations representing trucking interests in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi.

"To be very clear, ATA and its member companies support efforts to encourage all Americans to get vaccinated," ATA CEO Chris Spear said in a separate statement. "But we believe that the Biden administration has overstepped its statutory authority."

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit temporarily blocked the mandate last week as sought by another group of plaintiffs, including some state attorneys general, but the Justice Department says the rule is necessary to protect workers and is consistent with the law.

ATA did score a win in the OSHA rule published Nov. 5. The rule exempts employees who work exclusively outdoors or remotely or have minimal contact with others indoors. ATA said indications from the Department of Labor are that this exemption would apply to the commercial truck driver population.  

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