United Airlines is getting ready to fire hundreds of employees because they refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine that’s required under a companywide mandate, according to media reports.
The company said a total of 593 United States-based employees are in the process of being terminated, according to the New York Times and KPRC, KSAT’s sister station in Houston. The rest of its employees, or about 99% of its workforce, are fully vaccinated.
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United Airlines was the first major U.S. airline to announce that it will require employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
“We know some of you will disagree with this decision to require the vaccine for all United employees,” CEO Scott Kirby and President Brett Hart told employees on Aug. 6, when the airline announced the mandate. But, they added, “the facts are crystal clear: everyone is safer when everyone is vaccinated.”
Now, the airline says about 1% of the U.S. workforce missed the mandate’s deadline on Monday. That figure does not include those who are exempt due to medical or religious reasons.
“This was an incredibly difficult decision but keeping our team safe has always been our first priority,” Kirby and Hart said in a memo released Tuesday, as obtained by the New York Times.
A spokeswoman told the newspaper that the airline will work with employees who decide to get inoculated during the termination process.