So another US Company does the right thing, shows it cares about its employees and public health, and right-wing yahoos are up in arms against it.
If you’re not familiar with Carhartt products, let me just say that they are a clothing line whose products are simply made to last forever.
From the Guardian:
Carhartt, the Michigan-based workwear company, is facing a wave of conservative backlash after its CEO announced that it will keep its vaccination mandate, despite a recent supreme court decision to block a federal mandate that would require businesses with over 100 employees to get vaccinated or take weekly Covid-19 tests.
In an email sent to employees last Friday, Mark Valade said that Covid-19 vaccinations remain mandatory. “We put workplace safety at the very top of our priority list and the supreme court’s recent ruling doesn’t impact that core value,” Valade wrote.
“We, and the medical community, continue to believe vaccines are necessary to ensure a safe working environment for every associate and even perhaps their households. While we appreciate that there may be differing views, workplace safety is an area where we and the union that represents our associates cannot compromise,” Valade added.
Naturally, the primitives are up in arms.
CBS News reports that:
The memo has sparked both support and calls for a boycott, with the division coming down to whether consumers support vaccination requirements or see them as an intrusion on personal freedom. The unvaccinated are among the minority of Americans, given that 63% of the nation is fully vaccinated. But those who are unvaccinated tend to be higher in Republican-leaning areas, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
One Twitter user called Carhartt's vaccination stance "insane given their target market" and professed they were "done purchasing any of their stuff." Another wrote that she was "impressed and I will be purchasing from a company that cares about protecting all its workers."
Naturally right wing agitators like Sebastian Gorka and at least one Republican member of the House are jumping on the boycott bandwagon:
And of course there are always the pyromaniacs…
That little demonstration probably set him back about 20 bucks, and is somewhat reminiscent of when the right wing would buy Igloo ice chests simply to shoot them up or burn them.
Carhartt also shared a statement with PR Daily via email further reinforcing its stance on the COVID-19 vaccine and echoing much of the language from Valade’s original email:
Carhartt made the decision to implement its own vaccine mandate as part of our long-standing commitment to workplace safety. Our recent communication to employees was to reinforce that the Supreme Court ruling does not affect the mandate we put in place.
Carhartt fully understands and respects the varying opinions on this topic, and we are aware some of our associates do not support this policy. However, we stand behind our decision because we believe vaccines are necessary to protect our workforce.
Other corporations such as Starbucks have lifted their mandatory vaccine policies for their employees following the Supreme Court ruling striking down President Biden’s vaccine mandate.
However, for now it looks like Carhartt is sticking to their guns, er, needles.