Bend firefighters union takes sharp issue with state vaccine mandate for health care workers
Says it 'sets dangerous precedent' and amounts to coercion
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – The union representing Bend Fire & Rescue firefighters has taken sharp issue with Gov. Kate Brown’s new vaccination mandate, saying it “sets a dangerous precedent” and calling it “the literal definition of coercion.”
“The Bend Firefighters Association (Local) 227 adamantly disagrees with forced vaccinations and defends our members’ ‘right to choose’ when it comes to personal medical decisions,” the news release posted to Facebook Thursday by local President Stephen Doyle stated.
“No one is more keenly aware of the risks, or had more direct experience with COVID-19 than the men and women in the medical field, particularly in emergency services,” Doyle wrote, noting that the union “has an extremely high vaccination rate among its personnel.”
“We trust any member that is not vaccinated at this point to have thoughtfully and thoroughly considered all aspects, and we should respect their decision,” he said. “To threaten these brave men and women who have fought on the front lines for nearly two years during this pandemic with termination if they do not comply is the literal definition of coercion”
Doyle also said a state statute (apparently transposing the numbers) “expressly forbids forced immunization as a condition of employment of health care workers, including firefighters.”
However, an aide to Gov. Brown recently noted that the applicable statute (ORS 433.416) not allowing a health care worker to be required to be immunized as a work condition goes on to add: "unless such immunization is otherwise required by federal or state law, rule or regulation."
Doyle wrote, “This mandate sets a dangerous precedent and should be very concerning to all when politicians use loopholes, fear tactics and threats to further agendas.” “Our collective opposition to this mandate is not about politics, COVID-19 or the vaccine itself. It is about basic American freedoms and our rights as individuals to make personal medical choices,” he concluded.
