Many of you might not remember this, but way, way back in the 1980s, companies began what is now a common practise: drug testing. This was due in part because President Reagan signed an Executive Order for federal employees that they must all be tested.
What an opportunity, which is exactly what it was, for insurance companies to make even more money. Either force your employees to sign a waiver to be tested or lose your insurance coverage. This was the excuse used by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune which was owned by the New York Times at the time. Of course, the popular line was they cared about all of us and wanted to make sure if we had a drug problem, we received the help we needed.
I protested this with every inch of my being. Not because I am or was a druggie, but because I felt my bodily excretions belonged to me. I had never done anything to make anyone think I was doing drugs and I resented the fact that they could, at any time, send me for a drug test because I might be on drugs.
I worked for newspapers over 35 years. I have worked next to people who had a three martini lunch; a joint when they went home for dinner, doctor prescribed opiates where they were so loaded they couldn't keep their eyes open and never, ever had a problem. But now we were required because of insurance.
Drug tests are now standard operating procedure in most companies as are legalized pot smokers in many states although using federal guidelines, it is still illegal federally. People don't even blink when asked to pee in a cup.
Insurance companies continue to make money off drug tests or at least requiring drug tests and real drug people continue to fool the tests and continue working. Nobody protests.
Enter vaccinations for Covid. Now that companies are requiring employees to get vaccinated or lose their job, which is along the same lines of the paper I had to sign agreeing to be drug tested, people are all up in arms about them having no right. No right to what? Protect the public?
Why were signed agreements for drug testing okay and not to have a vaccination? I guarantee those agreements affected nothing but insurance costs. They didn't stop anyone from using drugs. I know. I still worked there.
So my suggestion is to get the insurance companies involved. If employees are not vaccinated, they are fired or the company's insurance is dropped, just like they did for drug testing.
Apparently I was the only one who protested that so I am going to assume everyone was okay with it. Easy, peasy, problem solved. Let the insurance companies make money and people won't complain any longer.
Heck, it worked for drug testing.
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