JEFFERSON CITY — The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry is continuing to speak out against the Biden Administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate and testing plan.
Under the plan, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) is forcing all businesses with 100 or more employees to either vaccinate all their staff members against COVID-19 or do weekly testing. Failure to comply by Jan. 4 could result in penalties of nearly $14,000 per violation. This onerous federal mandate would impact more than 3,700 businesses in Missouri. Missouri Chamber polling shows that nearly 80 percent of Missouri employers oppose the mandate.
In an official public comment to OSHA filed on Nov. 5, the Missouri Chamber made the case that this broad reaching mandate is the “wrong approach for business.” Click here to read the Missouri Chamber’s public comment. The Missouri Chamber is also encouraging businesses to speak out about the mandate by filing public comments with OSHA at this link.
“We are calling on the Missouri business community to unite against this reckless mandate. This action by OSHA and the Biden administration is an unprecedented abuse of power — and we believe an overreach of their authority. While the courts have already paused the mandate, it is still critical that employers speak up and help bring this effort to a full stop,” said Daniel P. Mehan, Missouri Chamber president and CEO. “The Missouri Chamber remains a strong proponent of getting Missourians vaccinated against COVID-19. Our COVID Stops Here campaign has helped hundreds of businesses move forward on vaccination in the workplace. In contrast with Biden Administration’s approach, we believe the federal government should instead cooperate with the employer community to encourage vaccination and support employers in this effort.”
The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry is the largest business association in Missouri. Together with the Missouri Chamber Federation, the Missouri Chamber represents more than 75,000 employers. To learn more, go to www.mochamber.com, or follow us @MissouriChamber on Twitter.