The truckers protest in Ottawa is out of hand

Interesting. I wonder what the auto workers who are on the verge of a layoff have to say about the protest. This is the protest at one of the border crossings, but it’s applicable. From today’s WaPo:

“Rob Wildeboer may have to decide as soon as Thursday whether the Canadian trucker protest that is blocking a key bridge between the United States and Canada will require him to furlough some of his several thousand factory workers.
Wildeboer, 62, the chairman of Martinrea International, which produces components for every global automaker, said Wednesday that the protests are within hours of halting some of his production lines. The company’s engine blocks, transmissions, subframes and brake lines can be found in GM Sierra pickup trucks, Ford Escapes and Jeep Grand Cherokees.
Each day, Wildeboer’s trucks make 38 trips across the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, shuttling half-finished products between company plants in both countries. The shipments are just part of $300 million in daily commerce that transits the aging steel span and is imperiled by the traffic-snarling protest of Canada’s coronavirus restrictions and vaccine mandates.
For the auto industry, the borders between the United States, Canada and Mexico were effectively erased nearly 30 years ago by a North American trade deal. The industry has developed since then into a tightly choreographed industrial ballet that relies on parts arriving at a factory just in time to be used.
“We make a part Monday morning, it’s probably on a vehicle by Wednesday,” Wildeboer said.”

The fact of the matter is that this protest will affect other working class people. In Ottawa, it is affecting businesses and nearby residents.

Vaccine mandates have been in place for the small pox and other vaccines since the Revolutionary war and they have not lead to broader powers.

People never lost their jobs and healthcare because they weren't vaxed against small pox, or mumps or measles or hepatitis or pertussis or diphtheria.  

Protests that don't cause any disruption at all are very easily ignored by the powers that be and highly unlikely to lead to any meaningful change imo. That doesnt mean they have to be violent but they do have to have some sort of an impact (which can include noise).

Furthermore vaccine mandates to access non health care related jobs in your own country are not remotely the same thing as the vaccine mandates that were in place before the pandemic. It's not much of a reach to see how the enthustiac acceptance of 'no jab no job' could easily be extended to other forms of medical treatment.

I'd love not to have to qualify that I'm pro vaccine, but when you state that you are against vaccine mandates people decide that means you're a far right, anti vax trump supporter which couldn't be further from the truth for me.

I dont think refusing a vaccine is heroic, nor do I think it is a smart choice for most but I still don't think its something people should be coerced into taking under the threat of losing their jobs. This is the problem IMO, the argument has become so polarised and I worry this doesnt covince anyone to change their mind and will have long term effects on the uptake of other vaccines.

Strictly speaking, that's not true. Many professions require a complete vaccination record and regular boosters. If I had not kept my vaccines current, I'd have been out of a job. If I'd depended on my employer insurance for healthcare, I would have also lost access. 

I don’t assume that, but I’m not particularly a fan of the libertarian take on this either, which seems where you fall. And is doing far more damage to vaccine rhetoric in general, than anything, IMO.

Public health vaccine mandates for existing vaccines were normal here. You can’t send your children to school without them, and yes, there are many jobs you can’t have without them. You can’t join the military. All this undermines and erodes that, as we’ve seen by states starting to roll back even these in response to catering to a subset of voters who have made it clear they don’t ever want to be told what to do, by anyone.

Protests that don't cause any disruption at all are very easily ignored by the powers that be and highly unlikely to lead to any meaningful change imo. That doesnt mean they have to be violent but they do have to have some sort of an impact (which can include noise).

Furthermore vaccine mandates to access non health care related jobs in your own country are not remotely the same thing as the vaccine mandates that were in place before the pandemic. It's not much of a reach to see how the enthustiac acceptance of 'no jab no job' could easily be extended to other forms of medical treatment.

Not the covid vaccine.  It isn't a choice for most.

It’s still a choice. No one is holding someone down and forcing them to be vaccinated. Either comply with your work requirements or lose your job. That’s your choice. Go find another job. Your not entitled to any specific job.

I worked in healthcare and never had to get a vaccine to keep my job

That's what you just don't seem to understand.  It's not a choice if you are going to lose your job, a job that you didn't have to get a vaccine to get the job in the first place.  It's forced coercion.  And it's wrong!!!

You realize your experience in your narrow little instance is not universal right?

When people say "you have to get vaxxed in jobs like healthcare" it doesn't mean EVERY job in healthcare. If you were in an office processing claims, yeah, you probably don't need to be vaxxed. They are saying in some or many (depending on the specifics) jobs in certain industries you have to get vaxxed.

So its coercion plain and simple.

There are many things that I have to do/follow and that have changed in the 20 years since I started my job and that I did not have to do/agree to back when I was hired.  And I can make the decision to accept and follow those choices or decide to give up my job and move on.  IMO ( because I know it is really important to you that we clarify that and I try to please ) 😆 no forced coercion there, especially if it wasn’t even around back when I was hired.