UPS, Disney to meet with White House and discuss vaccine mandate WASHINGTON Reuters - Executives with United Parcel Service Inc, Walt Disney Co and other companies are expected on Tuesday to meet with White House officials to discuss President Joe Biden's plan to require private-sector workers to receive COVID - 19 vaccinations according to public filings.
The mandate would apply to businesses with 100 or more employees and would affect about 80 million workers nationwide.
Several industry sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the rulemaking process was proceeding with urgency and they expect the mandate to be formally announced as early as this week. It was unclear how much time companies will have to implement it.
The White House's Office of Management and Budget OMB has been meeting with several influential business lobbying groups, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Retail Industry Leaders Association and the Business Roundtable as part of its rulemaking process. The meetings were requested by the trade associations and companies.
The interviews of Tuesday were disclosed in the White House filings.
Many of the groups have raised concerns such as labor shortages and how regulation by the Department for Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration OSHA could worsen existing supply-chain problems facing U.S. companies ahead of the holiday shopping season. Other topics, such as testing requirements and who will bear the costs, were raised.
The companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Biden's plan has drawn mixed response from industry trade groups and companies.
Several big employers including Procter Gamble Co and 3 M Co, along with airlines such as American and JetBlue, have imposed vaccination mandates since last month Biden's announcement of the health is official. Others such as IBM have said they will require all U.S. employees to be completely vaccinated by Dec. 8 no matter how often they come into the office.
Some other large U.S. employers, such as Walmart Inc., have yet to issue broad requirements.
The vaccine order has spurred pushback from many Republican governors, including Texas's Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott of Florida who issued an executive order that stops businesses from requiring vaccination for employees.
The mandate is performed under a temporary rulemaking mechanism known as an emergency federal standard.