Rick Powell has never seriously considered breaking the law before. As president and co-owner of Pemmco Manufacturing, a midsized company in Asheboro, North Carolina that makes parts for brands like GM, Powell considers himself an upstanding member of the local community.
But if Joe Biden’s order forcing companies to ensure employees are either vaccinated against Covid-19 or regularly test negative for the disease comes into force in January as planned, Powell, who has 135 people on his payroll, is considering simply not complying.
“We are struggling with it,” he told the Financial Times from his office on the outskirts of the small manufacturing town. “There is always the option of just not doing it. We consider ourselves a very ethical company. To knowingly violate the law is not something that is in our DNA, but that is something we will have to talk about.”