My employer has a federal contract and was notified on 10/21/2021 that because we have a federal contract, they fall under the Federal Mandate for the jab. This is a hard mandate that is vaccination without testing and limited religious or medical exemptions. As we are a Union shop, they are aware that they have to negotiate a condition of employment with the Union. I attended the meeting with other delegates and our Union organizer. As this contract is only $412K, of the 34 million budget. Management did a survey of the employees and found that only 40% took the jab. There was an adamant 100 employees who stated that they would not get it. This equates to around 25% of the staff and another 25% didn't respond to the survey. We challenged how a mandate is NOT a law. They can't just give up the fed contract as they could be penalized for 5 years for no federal grants/money. They also are aware that the company will not survive in losing 100 employees or more in one day. They ended up seeking other legal advice. At the follow up meeting, they shared that the new advice is that the federal government cannot add this mandate mid contract. Our new contract starts in April and they believe the feds will add the language to the new contract. The only shared that OSHA is to come out with new guidelines this week and there should be timeframe for compliance. This would be a soft mandate that means they could do a vaccine or testing. As the target date keeps moving, I wanted to share that others need to speak up and challenge. However, in the end, if there is a mandate or testing is forced, I will not comply with either. Guess it is in God's plan if I am done working in mental health.