Opposition Leader Marlon Penn is urging business owners to change their approach towards unvaccinated workers following the recent trend of businesses mandating unvaccinated workers to get vaccinated or face termination.
The plea was made in a recent statement issued by the Opposition Legislator, where he said a different approach is needed that will benefit both the employer and employee.
He said, “We need not be totally divided on this issue, because in all of this we all desire the same outcome – the preservation of lives and livelihoods. To the employer with unvaccinated staff, we ask you to change the conversation and help your staff navigate through the difficult issues that are preventing them from vaccinating.”
“Bring in a medical professional to provide information or counselling sessions, direct them to the official sources of information and share stories such as, of the 12 persons hospitalised, only one has been released so far and he or she is vaccinated. Compare your staff to that of your customers, just as you would not turn away a valuable but unvaccinated customer, do not turn away valuable employees,” he further explained.
Government, legal experts and community leaders should get involved
Penn also urged for the government and other reputable public figures and experts in the territory to get involved with the topic and help bring a solution to this existing issue.
“I urge our government, business leaders, community leaders, legal experts, and organisations with credibility on medical and crisis issues, to let us be part of the solution and not part of the problem. There is much at stake in this situation, in as much as a business cannot function without employees, employees cannot maintain their livelihoods nor contribute to our local economy without jobs. So too, a community cannot function with its citizens living in fear. Our mutual objectives, our economic and health successes, could only be achieved with balance,” he explained.
The Eighth District Representative is one of the first members of the opposition team to openly speak on this topical issue.
OneMart Supermarket and LJD VI Block which is located in Baugher’s Bay Tortola are among some of the businesses which recently made news headlines for their policy to have unvaccinated workers inoculated, or face termination.