Please be advised that I am an employee of Consolidated Edison of New York; and I object to my employer mandating that my fellow workers and I be vaccinated in order to continue working at our jobs.  We have worked throughout this pandemic, assuring that the people and companies in New York City and Westchester have electricity, gas and steam, making it possible for them to work from their homes while most of us had to be out in the streets, down manholes and up on poles.  Without our efforts, their homes and offices – the very hospitals which kept many of our fellow residents alive – would not have had air conditioning in the summer or heat in the winter, let alone lights to enable them to see what they needed to do.  Without our efforts, the City and Westchester would have ground to a halt.  Yet, there we were, working day after day, keeping the lights on, keeping the energy flowing.

Con Edison is declaring – probably for the first time in its history – that it is a federal contractor so that it can MANDATE that we be vaccinated.  It did not seem to care about our working closely together, often in crowded manholes, and traveling together in trucks before there were any vaccines. It did not shed any tears when many of us became ill and some – far too many – died from Covid-19.

Some of us are very reluctant to be vaccinated.  We are willing to be tested weekly by our employer, which operates a large medical unit, as we understand will be permitted under the OSHA rules.  Those of us who work in Con Edison’s offices have been working from home, without any issues, for the past 19 months; and there is no reason why we cannot continue to do so until this pandemic has truly passed.  Please tell Con Edison President Timothy Cawley to let us continue working, as we have, with the addition of weekly Covid testing for those who choose not to be vaccinated.  Thank you.