One employee says policy amounts to coercion
Employee feedback on Fonterra's proposal to enforce vaccine mandate for staff is now ongoing with a backdrop of protests coming from people who continue to oppose it. The company back in December pooled the opinion of employees on its plan to make all roles be carried out by vaccinated staff.
Fonterra director NZ Manufacturing Alan Van Der Nagel told Stuff that they are "now working through the feedback" on the plan, which would be implemented on March 1 depending on company's final say.
"No decisions on the proposal have been made," he cleared.
However, some employees have also made it known that they do not agree with the proposal by staging a protest at the company's Clandeboye plan.
Stuff reported that about 40 protesters took to the streets on Wednesday, decrying vaccine mandates and the possibility of losing their jobs over it.
One of the employees interviewed by Stuff said the policy, if implemented, is "coercion."
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They were holding placards that read: "If the vaccine doesn't work, how can mandate work?" and "Together we must stop the madness."
Stuff later learned that about half of the protesters were members of Voices for Freedom (VFF), an activist group known for opposing vaccinations.
However, the group claimed on its website that they are "not anti-vaccines."
"Voices for Freedom is not anti-vaccines. We value medical freedom and are pro-choice. We champion the right to be free from coercion and from discrimination based on vaccination status," it said on its official page.
"Certain sectors of the NZ public are currently experiencing coercion and discrimination and we are concerned consumers are not being accorded the right to be fully informed, make an informed choice and to give informed consent."