Reuters is reporting on an interesting dynamic within the vaccine mandate as it pertains to Amtrak. Reading between the lines tells us something very specific about this vaccine mandate that we have discussed here, and it’s starting to show.
The article itself points to how Amtrak is suspending their vaccine mandate as a result of the federal courts blocking enforcement of any mandate pending litigation. From their perspective as a federal contractor, Amtrak is now in a position to cease the vaccine requirement until the legal issues are resolved. However, there’s an element touched upon that needs to be considered.
First the article (the emphasis is mine):
WASHINGTON, Dec 14 (Reuters) – U.S. passenger railroad Amtrak said on Tuesday it will temporarily suspend a vaccine mandate for employees and now no longer expects to be forced to cut some service in January. In a memo seen by Reuters, Amtrak Chief Executive Bill Flynn said the railroad would allow employees who were not vaccinated to get tested.
Currently, fewer than 500 active Amtrak employees are not in compliance. Last week, the railroad told Congress it anticipated “proactively needing to temporarily reduce some train frequencies across our network” because of the mandate.
Flynn said 95.7% of Amtrak’s 17,000 employees are either fully vaccinated or have an accommodation — and including employees with one dose 97.3% of employees are in compliance.
Amtrak cited a U.S. district court decision that halted the enforcement of President Joe Biden’s executive order mandating vaccines for federal contractors by January. “This caused the company to reevaluate our policy and to address the uncertainty about the federal requirements that apply to Amtrak,” the memo said. (read more)
Let’s cut through some politically correct corporate speech and media spin, and instead focus on a few key aspects:
First, the cause of the operational change, a frequency change in Amtrak service, was specifically admitted to be due to the vaccine mandate. This is EXACTLY the opposite of the White House claim earlier today (see below). The vaccine mandate was the cause of the operational change. Amtrak admits this – the White House refutes this.
Second, a reduction of 500 non-vaccinated people amid a company payroll exceeding 17,000, to the extent that the reduction actually changes the operational service of the company, tells us the unvaccinated people were specifically critical to the service the company provides.
This second point gets to the heart of a thesis we have proposed before. It’s not an issue of how many people, or what percentage, quit over a vaccine requirement. It’s a more specific issue of WHO those people are and what they do.
In any organization, there are people critical to the operation and people not so critical.
In a cumbersome top-heavy organization, that relies upon government largess and subsidy to operate, employment is bloated beyond what is efficient. I have long stated that the key group of most productive people, the very critical group for efficient operation, are a small subset of the total company employment.
I would bet, and it is essentially admitted by the statement from Amtrak, that a much higher percentage of the critical workers are refusing the vaccine than exist in the total employment ranks. The most productive and critical employees within any organization are independent minded, dependable and capable of a much larger influence than the average person. It is inside that core group of highly critical employees where effects from a vaccine mandate refusal makes the biggest impact.
As a result, the issue for any mandate is not the percentage of compliance overall, but rather how those very critical employees respond to the mandate.
There can be a specific skillset or duty needed in an organization, even a massive organization, that is only being done by a handful of specifically skilled people. If those people stop working, the effect on the entire organization is far beyond scale. In some instances, even in large organizations, that handful of people can shut down the entire operation if they do not perform their job(s).
500 out of 17,000 is only 3%,… yet that 3% were obviously critical enough to the operation of Amtrak in such a scale as the organization was planning to modify it’s entire operation due to their absence. This fact points as evidence to the theory that the most critical blue-collar people inside every organization carry a tremendous amount of clout when it comes to this vaccine mandate.
It’s not a matter of how many refuse the mandate, it’s an issue of who they are.
The blue-collar effort to bolster the resistance by these brothers and sisters in freedom, does not have to be too massive to have an impact. Remember, almost all of the leftists and elite-minded communists, who now operate as Democrats, have no capacity for self-sufficiency. If the working class stops picking up their trash, stops mowing their lawns, shopping for them, doing their cleaning and essentially facilitating their lives, this entire group of people cannot function.
If the always dependable shift-worker who never misses a day of work; the person who is always dutiful, diligent, trustworthy and can solve problems independently; the person who goes the extra mile and is proactive in planning their responsibilities, does not show up with the keys to be the switch operator, well, then the switch doesn’t get operated. And, that person is very hard to replace.
Remember, the part where Amtrak said the change in service schedules was due to the vaccine? Well, here’s the White House denying the change in Amtrak services was caused by the vaccine. WATCH:
From a commonsense and logistical perspective, regardless of the federal outlook, there’s no way they can pull it off. We are the quiet, and according to those who look down their noses – the “invisible” unwashed masses. However, when it comes to keeping the gears turning, we are the majority.
We keep their shit working and just want to be left alone. The system will not function if tens-of-millions of American workers stand united against the vaccine mandate. It really is that simple.
“Amtrak admits this – the White House refutes this.” Disputing is not the same as refuting.
LOL reminds me of a line from a satirical news story: “The allegations were denied by him, but confirmed by his son.”
Who is John Galt? The question takes on new meaning as those who make the country work increasingly refuse vaccination or other submission to the elite. This is not a bad thing.
The problem with John Galt is that 30-page rant in Atlas Shrugged that included some two or three whole pages of bitter complaints against God, an apologia for Satan in the garden, and a total miss on what the point to what happened in the Garden of Eve. It was doctrines of Satanists expounded.
Makes me wonder about the author of the book. Because in the end, the atheists who believe the same as what is in John Galt’s rant are not the libertarians that John Galt is made out to be, but totalitarians.
Some services already cut. Baggage service out of Denver on the California Zephyr was suspended when we boarded on December 10th.
The dining car was only available for sleeping car passengers and not to paying coach people.
I was told this was due to vacations. ”
Now I suspect it was no-show vax refusniks.
The definition of *operations*. The ‘smart’ people only get to keep that description if the talented are provided with the means and support to maintain and advance the products and services offered.
When the ‘smart’ people forget who makes them look good it falls apart.
Pick your example.
I suspect that it was not the Diversity and Inclusion or the HR departments refusing the Vax, seeing that most businesses would likely operate more efficiently without them.
“Second, a reduction of 500 non-vaccinated people amid a company payroll exceeding 17,000, to the extent that the reduction actually changes the operational service of the company, tells us the unvaccinated people were specifically critical to the service the company provide”
“the unvaccinated people were specifically critical to the service the company provide”
“the unvaccinated people were specifically critical to the service the company provide”
“the unvaccinated people were specifically critical to the service the company provide”
“the unvaccinated people were specifically critical to the service the company provide”
“the unvaccinated people were specifically critical to the service the company provide”
On paper, I don’t see a problem with waiters in the dining car running the trains.
Unions. Very specific titles and rules prevent all kinds of staffing flexibilities.
On a railroad, and other high skilled labor positions, union rules are designed to protect the workers who do jobs that can be exceptionally dangerous. While your premise of flexibility has merit, if task training is spread across different crafts, it can water down safety. In others words, if Joe is trained to do task “A” and Jody is highly skilled at task “B” when the attempt is made to have Joe and Jody do both tasks, it will result in lessen of the skill level for both, which also decreases safety. On a railroad, asking a conductor to also repair track or to dispatch trains will only lead to unsafe conditions for the workers, and eventually, the public. Full disclosure, I am one of those railroad workers.
The issue discussed in the above article, is true for us also, I am certain, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that at the corporate level, vaccine mandate compliance is nearly 100%. But at the skilled worker level, the compliance rates are much lower. And if we’re not getting the jab, and the mandate date hits, the railroad would shut down due to lack of employees to run trains, maintain equipment, and fix broken track.
Who is John Galt?
The large corporation I retired from once dismissed the bottom rated 20% of the staff of one of their data centers. I asked a friend at that data center if it had impacted operations. He replied that the 20% who were laid off had been doing 5% of the work and now there was no one to do that 5%.