Health care workers protest possible vaccine mandates outside CMH
Assemblymen Joe Angelino and John Salka discussing the mandate with protestors. (Photo by Alan Stevens)
By Alan Stevens
Sun Contributor
NORWICH – Protestors organized outside of the Chenango Memorial Hospital Tuesday, demonstrating against a mandate placed on employers to create new workplace safety guidelines against COVID-19.
The HERO Act was updated to include COVID-19 as an airborne infectious disease on Monday.
A point of contention was raised by frontline workers opposed to COVID-19 vaccines, arguing that they will be forced to receive them or lose their jobs.
Assemblymen Joe Angelino and John Salka attended the protest.
Both assemblymen chose to attend the event to support workers against the mandates.
“I represent a rural area of upstate New York and in this area there are three rural hospitals. CMH in Norwich, the hospital in Sidney and also one in Walton. Providing healthcare in a rural area is already difficult. Staffing is hard to maintain, it’s very competitive and if these people choose not to get vaccinated because of a mandate, they may be laid off. I just don’t understand what the plan is going to be for healthcare in the rural area if 25 percent of the staff is not there. It’s already short staffed,” Angelino stated.
Salka said, “I’m here to advocate for these men and women who dedicated their lives to taking care of people through the pandemic. They’re on the frontline, they’re making a difference in people’s lives. Now, they’re being treated with such disrespect, given that they were the only ones holding those patients’ hands when they were passing because their families couldn’t be there and now workers are being treated like second-class citizens.”
Angelino encourages people to get vaccinated, but does not believe that it should be forced.
“We need to get people vaccinated, we need to do social distancing, but we can’t end the economy, we can’t stop freedom and we can’t not be America. We can’t ignore the Constitution. It’s a lot easier to get compliance if people buy in instead of a mandate. This is a mandate on these healthcare workers. If they had brought them to the table and discussed, but no, they get less than 30 days to make a life altering decision. That’s just not right. Don’t mandate. I was a police chief for many years. The best way to get compliance is education, collaboration and cooperation,” he said.
The assemblymen also oppose mandatory mask-wearing for schoolchildren, fearing that it will hinder their social growth.
“With children, it’s so detrimental to their health, to learning in an educational environment. We’re trying to develop social skills in these kids. We’re losing a generation of students because of the pandemic. We got to get kids back to school. It’s being done in other countries and other places where it’s not so stringent,” Angelino said.
Both assemblymen were concerned about the HERO Act being used to force vaccinations and mask-wearing.
“I think it’s wrong. It’s another mandate that is unfairly applied and for one thing, it’s unconstitutional. But it doesn’t seem like Albany has a lot of regard for what’s constitutional. I’ve been in the assembly for almost three years and I can’t tell you how many laws that have been passed that can be challenged on a constitutional level, because there’s nobody pushing back. But now, we’re pushing back,” said Salka.
When asked how the mandate is unconstitutional, Salka stated “Well, I’d have to have the bill in front of me. Right now, we’re reviewing the particulars. It just passed, so it takes time to digest exactly what’s going on with these. The heart of the matter is this: In three weeks, these people are going to be denied employment, because they take a stand on something that they are intelligent enough to be able to perceive as something that they don’t want to do.”
Immediately after stating this, a protestor who said she worked at a hospital thanked Salka.
“We did not sign our lives away. I didn’t sign on the dotted line saying that I’m submitting to what the hospital has to say. I’ll come to work and do my job, but I’m not giving up my rights for what they want. That’s unacceptable,” the protestor told Salka.
Salka stated that he would place extreme concern on COVID-19 statistics to make sure they are accurate.
Salka said, “I would make sure that the numbers being given are true and accurate. For instance, if you have 1,000 people infected with COVID, how many of those people are actually getting sick? How many of those people are going to the hospital? How many of those people are going to the ICU and how many have died?”
Sun Contributor
NORWICH – Protestors organized outside of the Chenango Memorial Hospital Tuesday, demonstrating against a mandate placed on employers to create new workplace safety guidelines against COVID-19.
The HERO Act was updated to include COVID-19 as an airborne infectious disease on Monday.
A point of contention was raised by frontline workers opposed to COVID-19 vaccines, arguing that they will be forced to receive them or lose their jobs.
Assemblymen Joe Angelino and John Salka attended the protest.
Both assemblymen chose to attend the event to support workers against the mandates.
“I represent a rural area of upstate New York and in this area there are three rural hospitals. CMH in Norwich, the hospital in Sidney and also one in Walton. Providing healthcare in a rural area is already difficult. Staffing is hard to maintain, it’s very competitive and if these people choose not to get vaccinated because of a mandate, they may be laid off. I just don’t understand what the plan is going to be for healthcare in the rural area if 25 percent of the staff is not there. It’s already short staffed,” Angelino stated.
Salka said, “I’m here to advocate for these men and women who dedicated their lives to taking care of people through the pandemic. They’re on the frontline, they’re making a difference in people’s lives. Now, they’re being treated with such disrespect, given that they were the only ones holding those patients’ hands when they were passing because their families couldn’t be there and now workers are being treated like second-class citizens.”
Angelino encourages people to get vaccinated, but does not believe that it should be forced.
“We need to get people vaccinated, we need to do social distancing, but we can’t end the economy, we can’t stop freedom and we can’t not be America. We can’t ignore the Constitution. It’s a lot easier to get compliance if people buy in instead of a mandate. This is a mandate on these healthcare workers. If they had brought them to the table and discussed, but no, they get less than 30 days to make a life altering decision. That’s just not right. Don’t mandate. I was a police chief for many years. The best way to get compliance is education, collaboration and cooperation,” he said.
The assemblymen also oppose mandatory mask-wearing for schoolchildren, fearing that it will hinder their social growth.
“With children, it’s so detrimental to their health, to learning in an educational environment. We’re trying to develop social skills in these kids. We’re losing a generation of students because of the pandemic. We got to get kids back to school. It’s being done in other countries and other places where it’s not so stringent,” Angelino said.
Both assemblymen were concerned about the HERO Act being used to force vaccinations and mask-wearing.
“I think it’s wrong. It’s another mandate that is unfairly applied and for one thing, it’s unconstitutional. But it doesn’t seem like Albany has a lot of regard for what’s constitutional. I’ve been in the assembly for almost three years and I can’t tell you how many laws that have been passed that can be challenged on a constitutional level, because there’s nobody pushing back. But now, we’re pushing back,” said Salka.
When asked how the mandate is unconstitutional, Salka stated “Well, I’d have to have the bill in front of me. Right now, we’re reviewing the particulars. It just passed, so it takes time to digest exactly what’s going on with these. The heart of the matter is this: In three weeks, these people are going to be denied employment, because they take a stand on something that they are intelligent enough to be able to perceive as something that they don’t want to do.”
Immediately after stating this, a protestor who said she worked at a hospital thanked Salka.
“We did not sign our lives away. I didn’t sign on the dotted line saying that I’m submitting to what the hospital has to say. I’ll come to work and do my job, but I’m not giving up my rights for what they want. That’s unacceptable,” the protestor told Salka.
Salka stated that he would place extreme concern on COVID-19 statistics to make sure they are accurate.
Salka said, “I would make sure that the numbers being given are true and accurate. For instance, if you have 1,000 people infected with COVID, how many of those people are actually getting sick? How many of those people are going to the hospital? How many of those people are going to the ICU and how many have died?”
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