By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Boeing (NYSE:) Co announced Tuesday that it would require all 125,000 U.S. workers to get vaccinated before Dec. 8, under an executive order by President Joe Biden. This was for federal contractors.

The largest U.S. planemaker stated that Boeing will require its U.S. employees to show proof of immunization or provide an approved reasonable accommodation (based upon a disability, sincerely held religious belief) before Dec. 8.

SPEEA, the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace union stated that it is “talking to employers to ensure implementation properly considers members concerns and health issues, as well as abides to our negotiated agreements.”

About 5,000 Boeing employees currently reside in Texas. Republican Governor Greg Abbott has issued an executive directive on Monday that prohibits any private employer from mandating COVID-19 vaccinations.

According to the Texas Executive Order, the Boeing vaccination requirements announced today do not immediately apply to local sites. A Boeing spokesperson said that the vaccine requirement will be applied to these sites once they are covered by the Biden EEO.

Major U.S. airlines including American Airlines (NASDAQ) Co, Southwest Airlines(NYSE:) Co and JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ) Corp have indicated that they will meet federal contractor deadlines. Spirit AeroSystems (NYSE) has also stated it is committed to meeting the deadline.

Last month, the White House issued a Dec. 8 deadline to federal contractor employees. The requirements will likely cover many millions of workers.

Raytheon Technologies (NYSE 🙂 Corp and International Business Machines Corp (NYSE 🙂 Corp both announced that all U.S. workers will be required to have their vaccines. Inoculations are now required by future contracts from the White House.

Steve Cave, a King & Spalding attorney who specializes in government contracts, told Reuters last month he expects the order will affect tens of millions of U.S. workers or more.

Separately, the Labor Department plans to issue an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), which requires employers who employ more than 100 employees to inoculate or test them weekly. This policy is expected to be applicable to more than 80 millions workers.

However, the White House regulatory offices have not yet reviewed the document. This suggests that the ETS may still be weeks away.