The Tribune

SHOULD an employer be able to require a worker to be vaccinated if they want to keep their job?

It’s a debate that is still only just starting to emerge, but has been pushed to the fore by the approach of Michael Scott, co-owner of the Sushi Rokkan restaurant.

He has told his staff they need to get the vaccine by June 30 or they may face reassignment or termination unless they have a valid medical reason.

The government has not made vaccination compulsory, so are employers within their rights to make it compulsory for people to keep their jobs?

Union leader Obie Ferguson has been clear in his opposition, saying: “It’s illegal, it’s unconstitutional.”

Mr Scott, on the other hand, points to the Health and Safety of Work Act and the duty to protect employees in the workplace as well as members of the public visiting that place. In other words, he thinks by insisting on vaccinations, it protects the other staff and it protects the customers. If anyone thinks differently, he invites them to sue him.

Director of Labour John Pinder, meanwhile, has said it is not legal to mandate vaccinations for continued employment.

It seems likely to end up in court at some point or another – but there is more to consider.

Kerry Fountain, the Out Islands Promotion Board’s executive director, has also spoken in today’s Tribune about the problem of the country’s rebound if we get too caught up in a debate over whether vaccines are mandatory for employees. He also points to rival tourism destinations, which are offering the vaccine to visitors. In other words, we’re arguing about the detail while others are thinking about the big picture.

Here’s another part of that picture – Dr Merceline Dahl-Regis, who leads the vaccine consultative committee, warns in today’s Tribune about the increase in cases we are experiencing and the fact that new strains are already here in The Bahamas.

“We must return to heightened surveillance and contact tracing if we are going to win this race in the shortest period of time,” she said, then added: “At the same time, we have to accelerate the uptake in vaccines. The COVID-19 vaccine provides you with the opportunity to develop an immune response to combat this infection.”

The vaccine is our key. That’s how we get out of this, and more people should be wanting to get the vaccine than worrying about whether it is demanded of them.

The courts will have their say on employer demands – but every employer, every union should be encouraging workers to help beat this pandemic in every way we can. And the biggest part of that in the long term will be getting the jab.

Chauvin guilty

Police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd.

That was the verdict of the court case that came to its conclusion – apart from sentencing – in Minneapolis yesterday.

Chauvin knelt on George Floyd’s neck until he suffocated. He stayed there even after Floyd was dead.

Several other officers were around him, but it wasn’t thanks to them that the case reached the courts. They didn’t stop Chauvin, they didn’t arrest him.

The guilty verdict is thanks to a 17-year-old black girl, Darnella Frazier, who took her phone out and recorded the incident.

It is thanks to her that we know it was nine minutes and twenty-nine seconds that Chauvin kept his knee on a dying man’s neck.

It is thanks to the crowd of onlookers, who tried to get the police to stop, with a number going on to testify in the trial.

It is thanks to the senior officers who testified against Chauvin to reiterate that his action was not appropriate or police policy.

It is thanks to the global response to George Floyd’s death, with protests around the world saying this cannot continue.

And yet, this verdict is not enough. Ahead of the verdict, how many of us really believed a white policeman would be found guilty of the murder of a black man? How many of us had that seed of doubt in our hearts that somehow, some way, he would be allowed to walk free?

This isn’t just a problem in the US, it’s a problem here at home too. How long before a police shooting is recorded on a phone camera, or how long before body cam footage is routinely released here so that people can see whether actions were justified – or whether accountability is required.

Until such time as it is the expectation that a police officer who commits a wrong will be found guilty rather than a hope, we’re still nowhere near justice, in the US or in our own communities. It’s a long road, but today was a sign that change is possible.