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.