Tag: covid-19 dairy

OSHA To Release a Vaccination Mandate for Employers

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Several members of the National Council on Farmer Cooperatives and NMPF met with the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Oct. 18 to discuss a pending standard which will require employers with over 100 employees to ensure the workers are vaccinated against COVID-19 or have a negative weekly COVID-19 test.

This action is one part in President Biden’s overall multi-prong plan to vaccinate the unvaccinated. Specifically, the plans states:

The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is developing a rule that will require all employers with 100 or more employees to ensure their workforce is fully vaccinated or require any workers who remain unvaccinated to produce a negative test result on at least a weekly basis before coming to work. OSHA will issue an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) to implement this requirement. This requirement will impact over 80 million workers in private sector businesses with 100+ employees.

The president also announced the standard will require employers to provide paid time off for the time it takes for workers to get vaccinated or to recover if they experience post-vaccine symptoms.

The coalition that met with OMB raised numerous concerns about the mandate while making it clear it will continue to advocate for vaccinations. Still, key questions include whether there will be enough tests to handle the demand. If there are insufficient tests to meet demand, the coalition is concerned the program will fail, further disrupting an already fragile supply chain. NMPF suggested that the White House should consider invoking the Defense Production Act (DPA), as it did several times in the past year to address other COVID related issues, to ensure availability of affordable rapid COVID-19 tests.

The group also raised concerns about record-keeping, time-off requirements and potential suspension of the ETS if it creates supply chain disruption, particularly for workers deemed essential by DHS-CISA in its Critical Infrastructure Workers v 4.0 NMPF helped develop in 2020.

The ETS was never a proposed rule, and the details are largely unknown, and stakeholders had very little opportunity to comment on it. The ETS standard is expected to be released this week.

Dairy Leads in Nationwide Vaccination Effort

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF became a founding member of the COVID-19 Community Corps April 1, joining a nationwide effort to increase vaccine confidence while reinforcing basic prevention measures.

While the COVID-19 vaccine supply and availability has increased, hesitancy persists, creating challenges to achieving the herd immunity required to relax COVID-19 restrictions and restart the economy. Dairy farmers and their cooperatives are well-positioned to build on trusted relationships with employees, customers, and community members, and encourage vaccination in rural communities nationwide.

To support the dairy community’s continued leadership in workforce safety, NMPF distributed a COVID-19 Vaccination and the Dairy Workforce resource April 16. The toolbox was developed to help dairy farmers and cooperatives communicate with employees about the safety and benefits of COVID-19 vaccines and includes steps employers can take to help their workforce get vaccinated. NMPF also continues to update its Guide to the COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout to ensure dairy farmers can easily reference up-to-date information on accessing vaccines and scheduling appointments.

Member co-ops have also stepped up as leaders in protecting the public and reviving the economy.

  • Farmers and cooperatives across the country are putting together vaccination events for farmers, staff and farmworkers in the fields where they live and work. Natural Prairie Dairy, a member of Select Milk Producers Inc. organized a vaccination event for 300 of its employees at its organic dairy farm in Dalhart, Texas. And Michigan Milk Producers Association has been driving employees to vaccination sites when necessary, reporting that up to 90 percent of employees are now vaccinated.
  • At Dairy Farmers of America, co-op employees are offered two hours of pay for each vaccine they receive; at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Association, employees receive a $50 Amazon gift card upon receiving a single dose of a COVID-19 vaccine; and at Lone Star Milk Producers, employees can take paid time off to get their shots;
  • Northwest Dairy Association/Darigold, Associated Milk Producers Inc. and Prairie Farms, among others, have organized vaccinations at their processing plants;

Vaccinating essential workers, including the dairy workforce, is important because of their role in maintaining critical infrastructure operations and their increased risk of getting and spreading COVID-19. Vaccination is one of many important tools to help stop the pandemic.