Workers in the U.S. just suffered a gut punch.
On Jan. 13, the six conservative justices of the U.S. Supreme Court blocked implementation of an “emergency temporary standard” issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The standard directed that employers with 100 or more workers must require their employees to either be vaccinated or else mask and undergo weekly testing at their own expense. It was not a “vaccine mandate.” It encouraged vaccination but allowed other options.
Even so, six justices turned their thumbs down. Congress, they said, hadn’t authorized OSHA to issue such a sweeping rule. They also argued that since COVID-19 is a public health problem and not one limited to workplaces, it’s not in OSHA’s bailiwick.
