5 Things to Know in Alaska Politics: Big Oil, energy prices, business boosters kodiakdailymirror.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kodiakdailymirror.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The bill states that “unless authorized by federal law,” an employer may not require an employee or job applicant to undergo or show proof of a Covid vaccine “as a
Print article JUNEAU Rep. Ben Carpenter, R-Nikiski, has proposed new legislation that would forbid businesses, local governments and the state from requiring COVID-19 vaccines. If House Bill 175 becomes law, businesses could not require employees to be vaccinated, and unvaccinated people could not be forbidden from accessing “an area or service that is open to the public.” Similar ideas have been approved by Texas, Missouri, Florida and several other states with Republican-controlled legislatures. Surveys indicate that Republicans are much more reluctant to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Carpenter’s bill was introduced Wednesday, after Bering Straits Native Corp. the parent company of Alaska Industrial Hardware said it would require all 2,100 employees to be vaccinated. Some small cruise lines operating in Alaska also require their employees to be vaccinated.
Print article The calls for a boycott started as soon as word got out last month that Alaska Industrial Hardware was requiring workers get vaccinated for COVID-19. The business is a fully owned subsidiary of Bering Straits Native Corp., where the board of directors in mid-March voted to mandate vaccinate for all employees unless they are approved for medical or religious exemptions. Officials say the board’s decision reflected the disproportionate toll the virus is taking on Alaska Native people, particularly elders. AIH employs 200 people in eight locations across the state four in Anchorage and Eagle River that sell everything from work gloves and Xtratuf boots to air compressors and power tools.
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Debbie Atuk was hired in January and officially took over as President and CEO of Kootznoowoo Incorporated on Feb. 1. (Photo provided by Kootznoowoo Inc.)
Even back when Debbie Atuk was an undergraduate student studying economics at the University of Chicago, she was thinking about Alaska Native corporations.
“I wrote a lot of essays, a lot of scholarship application essays, and I talked about the Native corporations and how I wanted to come back and apply my experience earning a degree in economics,” she said.
Atuk is Iñupiaq and grew up in Nome and Anchorage. She went on to earn an MBA from Dartmouth, and most recently worked for SkyView Investment Advisors in New York City. She also serves as board treasurer for Bering Straits Native Corporation.