Together members have voted by a margin of over three to one to support an employer policy to mandate COVID vaccinations for staff employed in 1 William Street.
At a meeting on Friday 7 January Together advised the employer that despite strong opposition to the unreasonable timeframes of the consultation process, Together members across all agencies in 1 William Street supported an employer mandate for COVID vaccinations with over 75% of members who participated in the union ballot supporting the mandate. Thank you to all who participated in the ballot.
The feedback from members was that it was clearly inappropriate to conduct the consultation over the traditional Christmas closedown when the majority of staff were not in the workplace. In light of these logistical challenges the Together office took additional steps, including texting members, to maximise the number of members who participated in the process.
Together was advised at the meeting on 7 January that the employer's consultation process has received similar feedback to the union's and the majority of staff within 1 William Street also supported the introduction of a mandate.
The employer's risk assessment was being updated to reflect the rapid spread of COVID since the commencement of the consultation process. While this process has been co-ordinated centrally, each individual Director-General will need to consider the risk assessment and make an individual decision about whether to introduce a mandate for their staff in 1 William Street.
Together has urged a consistent approach to any decision to mandate staff in 1 William Street in terms of implementation timeframes and process, as well as how any mandate will be applied to staff who visit 1 William Street but are not employed there.
Together expects to be advised of the decisions of the Directors-General in the next week.
Together is continuing to engage with all government agencies about their policies in relation to vaccination mandates in buildings other than 1 William Street.