Teachers Unions, Business Groups on Board with Mask, Vaccine Requirements
Masked customers shop at a garden center in suburban Mt. Prospect. The Illinois Retail Merchants Association supports Governor JB Pritzker’s statewide mask mandate.
While the Chicago Teachers Union seemed to fight tooth and nail when Mayor Lori Lightfoot issued a similar vaccine mandate for city employees, but both the Illinois Education Association and Illinois Federation of Teachers are supportive of the Governor’s action.
IFT President Dan Montgomery and IEA President Kathi Griffin issued a joint statement Thursday:
“Since the beginning of the pandemic, our unions have worked hard to protect students, teachers, staff, and communities by calling for safe working conditions and health mitigations to help stop the spread of COVID. We know the best place for students to learn is in classrooms made safe through public health strategies that work. With the Delta variant surging, case numbers in Illinois on the rise and more children now getting sick, the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) and the Illinois Education Association (IEA) support Governor Pritzker’s vaccine mandate for educators and staff in K-12 and higher education.
“The surge of COVID-19 cases in our state reminds us that this vaccine mandate is a public health imperative. To implement it properly, widespread education and access to vaccines will be essential. For members who cannot, or will not, get vaccinated, we are glad to see the governor has implemented weekly COVID testing.
“We are committed to helping our locals negotiate the terms and implementation of the vaccine mandate and other safety policies in school districts, colleges, and universities statewide. Collaborative discussions between our unions and employers are critically necessary to ensure that our members’ concerns are addressed and that they have a voice in how safety policies are applied.
“The vaccine mandate will help provide the greatest possible level of safety for those who learn and work in our schools, colleges, and institutions, especially as part of a layered approach that includes face masks, physical distancing, regular handwashing, adequate building ventilation, and consistent COVID testing of students, teachers, faculty, and staff. Now that these same mitigation factors will apply to higher education institutions, it will help our state keep our young adults and those who teach and work with them, safe and healthy.
“As educators, we understand the vital role we play in providing accurate, science-based information about COVID and vaccinations to combat myths and misinformation. Here is the truth: Vaccines work. Vaccines are safe. And vaccines save lives. The action taken today by Gov. Pritzker is what we need so our school year can continue in person. It’s the best course of action for the education of our state’s youth.”
The Illinois Retail Merchants Association (IRMA) also issued a statement in support of the mandate Thursday, calling the Governor’s action “measured.”
“Retailers remain dedicated to the health and safety of employees, customers and our communities. We support the governor’s mask mandate as a measured approach that ensures shoppers continue to have access to needed goods, food and medicine with minimal disruption,” said Rob Karr, president and CEO of IRMA. “We ask all customers to abide by this public health order in a respectful manner. We strongly encourage local law enforcement agencies to promptly assist us in ensuring employees are not subjected to verbal and physical abuse as we have seen in the past and call on local health departments to enforce this order in uniform fashion. We must all work together to ensure the health and safety of our communities.”
Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Jack Lavin said the mandate is a way for retailers to help lead the way on public safety.
Businesses are in a unique position to change the trajectory of this pandemic, which is why the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce has called on businesses to review and implement policies that require all employees be vaccinated before returning to the worksite, unless a valid health or religious reason is presented,” Lavin said in a statement. “Masks are an essential tool in preventing the spread of the virus, and we support the Governor’s indoor mask order as a common-sense way to help ensure businesses stay open and are able to get people back to work,”
Illinois Manufacturers’ Association President & CEO Mark Denzler issued a statement supporting masks and vaccination, but stayed silent on the mandates.
“The scientific data is irrefutable: vaccines and mask wearing are safe and effective ways of slowing the spread of the deadly virus. These lifesaving vaccines were created by American manufacturers under federal oversight and are the best way to protect our communities and restore our economy,” said Denzler. “The IMA and our members across the state support vaccinations and mask wearing to slow the spread of this virus. We cannot cede the progress that has been made in restoring our nation’s health and economy.”
We asked an IMA spokesman if the organization supports requiring vaccinations and we were told the “statement stands on its own,” though it doesn’t address our question.