Will Mandatory Vaccination Policies Be Enforceable In Unionized Workplaces?

Employers across the world are discussing the risks and merits of imposing mandatory vaccination policies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While there is still no certainty about the enforceability of these policies, decisions from labour arbitrators give us some idea of the principles to be applied in unionized workplaces.

My colleague, Jennifer Costin has written about the general issues here, but this will be a deeper dive into the question specifically for unionized employers. As Jennifer discussed, arbitrators have split on the question of mandatory Vaccination or Mask ("VOM") policies for influenza. Those who found that mandatory policies contravened the collective agreement did so on facts which included that: medical officers of health had not mandated a policy; there was a lack of consensus on the value of vaccination; and there was "insufficient, inadequate and unpersuasive" evidence for masking.