U.S. Postal Service asks Biden regime for vaccine requirement waiver ahead of “potentially catastrophic” staffing shortages

The U.S. Postal Service has asked the Biden regime for a temporary waiver from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement, and if the agency gets one, then that proves beyond any doubt that no American companies should be required to force their workers to get the jab or face weekly testing.

Because the reason is obvious: The administration does not really believe the virus is a planet-ending strain and is just imposing a mandate as a way of exerting authoritarian control over the population.

For its part, the USPS is claiming that the requirement will worsen staff shortages and exacerbate the still worsening supply chain crisis.

“Given the significant challenges that our nation’s supply chains are already experiencing, we respectfully suggest that the nation cannot afford the additional potential substantial harm that would be engendered if the ability of the Postal Service to deliver mail and packages is significantly negatively impacted,” Deputy Postmaster General Douglas A. Tulino wrote in the request to OSHA in a Jan. 4 letter obtained by The Epoch Times.

Tulino went on to argue that the vaccine-or-test mandate that is part of OSHA’s mandate, which was issued under a very little-used provision known as an “emergency temporary standard,” could lead to a “critical disruption to our vital operations” during the ongoing pandemic, which seems like some want it to be never-ending.

The deputy postmaster went on to claim that the Postal Service, which operates around 30,000 locations around the country, would have to train “tens of thousands of local supervisors and managers” in order to monitor workers’ compliance with the mandate.

The Epoch Times continued:

The letter stated that requiring the USPS “to absorb what could inevitably be a dramatic loss of employees at a time when the labor market is extremely tight and in the middle of the Postal Service’s Peak Season would have a potentially catastrophic impact on our ability to provide service.”

The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 7 [heard] oral arguments on the rule, which affects private businesses with 100 or more workers. It stipulates that workers either submit to weekly COVID-19 testing and mask-wearing or get vaccinated.

A spokesperson with the Labor Department, which OSHA falls under, said the agency is reviewing the USPS request, but added that OSHA determined that compliance was “feasible for employers with 100 or more employees, including the postal service.”

“The Postal Service is seeking temporary relief because it wants to ensure that its ability to deliver mail and packages is not hindered amid the current disruptions in the nation’s supply chain,” said Darlene Casey, a USPS spokeswoman. “In addition, the Postal Service wants to adopt policies and procedures that comply with the [OSHA rule] while also fulfilling the organization’s other legal obligations.”

If the Postal Service is granted an extension or a reprieve, then it will prove beyond any doubt that the regime doesn’t consider the virus to be nearly as serious as they claim it is.

Meanwhile, 183 lawmakers sent a “friend of the court” brief to the U.S. Supreme Court asking justices to strike down the rule as unconstitutional and unnecessary.

“[OSHA] was never meant to be the health police,” they wrote. “Moreover, mandatory vaccinations do not stop individuals from contracting and transmitting COVID-19. Vaccinated workers can still contract and transmit COVID-19, including the new Omicron variant. Given that fact, imposing masking and testing restrictions only on unvaccinated workers makes no sense because all workers regardless of vaccination status remain potential carriers and transmitters of the virus.”

“Congressional members have an interest in the powers they delegate to agencies not being abused,” the lawmakers added. “The legislative authority vested in the federal government belongs to Congress, not the Executive branch. In this case, the promulgation by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) of a sweeping, nationwide vaccine mandate on businesses intrudes into an area of legislative concern far beyond the authority of the agency.”

Sources include:

LifeSiteNews.com

TheEpochTimes.com