A number of the country’s biggest labor unions are challenging President Joe Biden’s testing and vaccine requirements. This is not an attempt to reverse them, but rather to make them more applicable to other businesses.

Last week, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union and AFL-CIO requested that the U.S. Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia review the regulations. AFL-CIO represents the largest federation among trade unions in the U.S. and the UFCW the largest food and meat processing union.

CNBC spoke with a CNBC spokesperson who said that while the unions have not provided arguments in the petition, the food workers union wanted the mandates extended to as many companies as possible. It also supports the Labor Department’s new rule that ensures employees do not have to take on the cost of facemasks and Covid testing. These costs are not covered by the Biden mandates.

CNBC received a statement from the food workers union stating that it is working to strengthen worker protections in order to make sure that all workers have access to vaccines. It also wants front-line workers to be able to influence how vaccination requirements are applied and to not bear the costs of testing and masks.

Service Employees International Union (SEIU) also challenged Biden’s requirements for testing and vaccinations last week at the U.S. Court of Appeals in the Second Circuit. SEIU local 32BJ represents 175,000 workers – primarily building security guards and cleaners – across New York, New England, New Jersey, parts of Pennsylvania, the D.C. metro area and Florida.

Service employees petitioned Biden to say that it “failings to adequately protect all workers facing a grave risk from COVID-19 Exposure in the workplace.” CNBC received a statement from Kyle Bragg of SEIU 32BJ, which stated that his union wants all companies to be included in the mandates.

Bragg stated that “we believe we each have to do what is necessary to restore our communities to normal” and suggested that COVID’s vaccine mandate or test should be expanded to include employers with less 100 employees. The exemption of these employers would undermine the efforts to safeguard public health.”

The Labor Department did not comment on the lawsuits filed by unions. Biden, in a speech shortly after Labor DayAccording to, he plans to be the “most pro-union president leading the most pro–union administration in American History.” 

AFL-CIO and the service worker unions and food workers lobbied the White House to increase protections for employees in its mandates. This included ventilation standards and requirements for companies to maintain physical distance where possible. These measures were not included in the administration’s vaccination and testing policies.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (which will enforce the Labor Department mandates) has stated it set the threshold at companies with more than 100 employees as it believed these businesses had the resources to meet the demands.

OSHA claimed it did not mandate Covid mitigation strategies across all industries, as such a move would have been “extremely challenging and difficult.” OSHA stated that it needed to act quickly to safeguard workers from Covid’s grave threat. Vaccination is the best and most effective way to prevent this.

OSHA however indicated it might expand its mandates to include smaller businesses, and that it was considering adding more protections for employees. Through a public consultation period, OSHA is looking for information from businesses that offer greater protections and those with less than 100 employees.

Now, the Biden administration is in a legal battle over vaccine testing and requirements. Labor unions are pushing to expand mandates. Republican attorneys general from at least 26 state have filed lawsuits in federal appellate courts in an effort to overturn the Biden policy.

To overturn these mandates, Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit in D.C. Court of Appeals. This case was consolidated with AFL-CIO’s and UFCW’s petition for review.

U.S. Court of Appeals of Fifth Circuit was considered the most conservative court in America and halted the mandate on Nov. 6. They stated that the lawsuits gave “cause to believe that there are grave statutory, constitutional, or other issues with the Mandate.”

On Friday, the court confirmed its decision to defer requirements and called them “fatally flawed” as well as “staggeringly broad”. According to the court, the suit seeking to invalidate the requirements is likely to be successful.

This court order halte was issued in response to lawsuits filed by Republican Attorney Generals of Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, South Carolina, South Carolina, Utah, and several private businesses.

Through random selection from the various jurisdictions in which petitions were filed, all cases will be combined into one court. Last week, the Justice Department stated that random selection would occur on Tuesday.

This selection process may be crucial for the success of vaccines and other testing requirements. While Republican lawyers general filed in federal appeal courts that had more GOP-appointed judges than the unions, they filed in courts where more Democratic-appointed judges were available.

CNBC heard last week from David Vladeck, Georgetown University professor of Law, that it is highly likely the case would end up at the Supreme Court. There’s an conservative majority.

White House told businesses to continue implementing the requirementsAs the court drama unfolds. Businesses with over 100 employees can ensure that all staff members have been vaccinated by January 4. To be permitted to work, employees who have not been vaccinated must submit a positive Covid test every week. Starting Dec. 5, unvaccinated workers must wear masks inside the workplace.

White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean Pierre told reporters Monday that people shouldn’t be patient. They should keep moving forward, and ensure that their workplace is vaccinated.