An employee with North West Redwater Partnership (NWR), an affiliate of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNRL), says workers were “blindsided” with the vaccine mandate rolled out to them on Monday..The NWR employee has asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal from his employer..CNRL, one of Alberta’s largest oil and gas companies, announced on October 7, they were mandating COVID-19 vaccines for all CNRL Horizon employees and set the deadline for workers to show proof of double vaccination for December 1. .“NWR is half-owned by CNRL,” the worker told the Western Standard in an interview Thursday..“We knew about the mandate from CNRL Horizon but were blindsided on Monday when we got the email. It was just a PDF document — no signatures, just a statement — saying basically that we have to follow this policy or find somewhere else to work,” the employee said..Of the 313 NWR employees, 84 are unvaccinated or have yet to report their status, the employee told the Western Standard..“No other companies in the energy-producing sector have mandated a vaccine policy that I know of other than CNRL,” said the NWR worker..“We’ve been following all the AHS (Alberta Health Services) orders — masking, distancing, testing — then out of the blue, these new mandates come down and now we’re stuck between a rock and a hard place with a short window.”.The NWR employee said the staff have been advised they need to have proof of first vaccination by November 15 and proof of second dose by December 15..“It’s basically a hard policy. You do this otherwise disciplinary action will start — up to and including dismissal.”.The NWR worker said he reached out to other CNRL facilities and has heard that others have not been mandated yet..“A small cohort of concerned people have discussed options and we’ve sent questions to management,” said the worker..“We want to know what’s wrong with the safety policies we have in place and we’ve been practicing right now? Why isn’t rapid testing an alternative anymore? What about those of us who’ve had COVID and have natural immunity? What about working remotely?”.The NWR worker said he is not “anti-vax” and has had numerous vaccines in his lifetime but said, “as far as I’m concerned, this is not a vaccine as I know it — it’s gene therapy. And we also don’t have any long-term studies done.”.“Someone has already reached out to the lawyer working with the CNRL staff fighting the mandates,” said the NWR worker who hopes to get answers to their questions from management soon..“I don’t agree with what is happening and no one has any answers right now, yet the clock is ticking.”.The Western Standard spoke with Calgary lawyer, James Kitchen, who has filed a notice to CNRL CEO Tim McKay on behalf of 1,100 citing their intention to sue if they continue with their forced vaccination policy..Kitchen’s request for reply by October 26 has come and gone and he has yet to receive a response from McKay..Melanie Risdon is a reporter with the Western Standard.,.mrisdon@westernstandardonline.com
An employee with North West Redwater Partnership (NWR), an affiliate of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNRL), says workers were “blindsided” with the vaccine mandate rolled out to them on Monday..The NWR employee has asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal from his employer..CNRL, one of Alberta’s largest oil and gas companies, announced on October 7, they were mandating COVID-19 vaccines for all CNRL Horizon employees and set the deadline for workers to show proof of double vaccination for December 1. .“NWR is half-owned by CNRL,” the worker told the Western Standard in an interview Thursday..“We knew about the mandate from CNRL Horizon but were blindsided on Monday when we got the email. It was just a PDF document — no signatures, just a statement — saying basically that we have to follow this policy or find somewhere else to work,” the employee said..Of the 313 NWR employees, 84 are unvaccinated or have yet to report their status, the employee told the Western Standard..“No other companies in the energy-producing sector have mandated a vaccine policy that I know of other than CNRL,” said the NWR worker..“We’ve been following all the AHS (Alberta Health Services) orders — masking, distancing, testing — then out of the blue, these new mandates come down and now we’re stuck between a rock and a hard place with a short window.”.The NWR employee said the staff have been advised they need to have proof of first vaccination by November 15 and proof of second dose by December 15..“It’s basically a hard policy. You do this otherwise disciplinary action will start — up to and including dismissal.”.The NWR worker said he reached out to other CNRL facilities and has heard that others have not been mandated yet..“A small cohort of concerned people have discussed options and we’ve sent questions to management,” said the worker..“We want to know what’s wrong with the safety policies we have in place and we’ve been practicing right now? Why isn’t rapid testing an alternative anymore? What about those of us who’ve had COVID and have natural immunity? What about working remotely?”.The NWR worker said he is not “anti-vax” and has had numerous vaccines in his lifetime but said, “as far as I’m concerned, this is not a vaccine as I know it — it’s gene therapy. And we also don’t have any long-term studies done.”.“Someone has already reached out to the lawyer working with the CNRL staff fighting the mandates,” said the NWR worker who hopes to get answers to their questions from management soon..“I don’t agree with what is happening and no one has any answers right now, yet the clock is ticking.”.The Western Standard spoke with Calgary lawyer, James Kitchen, who has filed a notice to CNRL CEO Tim McKay on behalf of 1,100 citing their intention to sue if they continue with their forced vaccination policy..Kitchen’s request for reply by October 26 has come and gone and he has yet to receive a response from McKay..Melanie Risdon is a reporter with the Western Standard.,.mrisdon@westernstandardonline.com
