A Navy shipbuilding company has ended its vaccine mandate after workers threatened to quit and the Navy confirmed it did not require the mandate. Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), the parent company of Newport News Shipbuilding, is the world’s only manufacturer of the U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. The company also serves as just one of two manufacturers of Virginia and Columbia Class submarines, employing more than 25,000 workers in Virginia. Newport had previously announced plans to require all 25,000 of its workers to be fully vaccinated by Dec. 8. The deadline was later moved to Jan. 4, to allow additional time. The deadline has now been “suspended,” with the requirement ended. “We have not wanted to lose a single employee to the virus, or to the effect of the mandate,” President and CEO Mike Petters wrote in a letter (pdf) to employees on Wednesday. “Importantly, with respect to Ingalls Shipbuilding and …
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