Norwegian Cruise Line, fighting Republican COVID inaction
Last week, we reported that, by standing in the way of COVID vaccinations and precautions even as the delta variant ravages the U.S. population, Republicans are increasingly “out of touch with the current reality, and way behind the curve of events.” At the time, there was a small but growing number of big corporations and organizations (e.g. Walmart, Target, Tyson Foods, McDonald’s) that were ignoring Republican anti-safety ideology to some degree and taking precautions of their own, such as vaccination and masking requirements. Now, the list of such companies is growing rapidly, and includes, for example, Google, Facebook, United Airlines, and Frontier Airlines. Other companies, such as Delta Airlines, require the Coronavirus vaccine for new employees, and formally encourage vaccination for existing workers. At this point, therefore, an increasing percentage of U.S. workers is under some kind of COVID mandate from their employers, again in contrast to the unhealthy rhetoric from the GOP. It is also reasonable to think that many small businesses look to these larger companies for guidance, and will soon, if they do not already, require similar protections for their employees.
Florida is a great example of this trend. Florida is having the worst Coronavirus outbreak in the nation, shattering its own records for cases and hospitalizations each week. Incredibly, however, Florida’s Governor, Ron DeSantis, has fought to stop companies, organizations, schools and governmental agencies from instituting mandatory vaccinations, masking requirements, and other protections against the virus. Some media outlets are speculating that DeSantis is focused on running for president in 2024, and has made the very sick calculation that fighting for some Republican ideological version of “freedom” against mandated COVID protections is a political winner in his party. DeSantis’ cause has not been helped, however, by the recent death from Coronavirus of right wing Florida radio and Newsmax TV host Dick Farrel. A staunch public opponent of COVID vaccines, Farrel reportedly changed his view about the vaccine at the end, when it was already too late for him.
Indeed, companies are fighting back against DeSantis’ deadly political game. In one well-known example, DeSantis had signed a Republican state law prohibiting cruise lines based in Florida from mandating COVID vaccines for their passengers. Now, however, a federal district judge has ruled in favor of Norwegian Cruise Line in implementing its passenger vaccine requirement for cruises out of Florida despite that law. In another instance, Florida parents have filed lawsuits in state and federal court challenging DeSantis’ executive order barring mask mandates in schools. And some Florida school districts are ignoring DeSantis’ executive order by maintaining their mask requirements.
No doubt some of these corporations and organizations have heard from their lawyers that taking more precautions against COVID would help inoculate them from liability by employees, customers and others who might come down with the virus. Other companies have made the very practical calculation that vaccinations, masks and other precautions are the best protections against massive business losses due to widespread employee illness and/or supply chain disruptions. Still other businesses, such as Norwegian, might think that adding COVID safety protections gives them an advantage against their competitors, reflecting its freedom to make the best business decisions. This puts Republican ideology squarely at odds with the business considerations that their party always claims to support, and is a natural area for Democrats to exploit.
Most corporations have their bottom line to worry about first and foremost, and simply cannot afford to succumb to increasingly deadly Republican political ideology when it comes to COVID-19. Who knows, maybe some additional corporations will even begin to lean Democratic in their culture and campaign donations, as they clearly identify the Democratic Party to be more competent, more safety- and health-minded, more pro-business, and even more truly “pro-life.”
Photo by Ron Cogswell, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/NE9YHZ
