The public-sector unions in New York City are redoubling their efforts to win reinstatement and back pay for their members who lost their jobs as a result of their refusal to get the COVID-19 vaccination.
The renewed push for reinstatement comes as a response to Mayor Adams‘ announcement on Monday that his administration will drop the city government’s longstanding coronavirus vaccine mandate later this week.
Vaccination Requirements Were Placed Upon The Majority Of New York City’s Workforce.
Vaccination requirements in New York City have historically been among the most stringent and comprehensive in the entire country. By the end of the year 2021, the city had implemented rules that applied to employees in both the public and private sectors.
Despite this, Garvey did not believe that he would be without a job, much less a job like the one he had.
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We are unable to respond to calls placed to 911. Even going onto other people’s property is not something we do “he explains. Even before it started, I couldn’t stop telling myself, “There’s no way they’re really going to fire us.”
New York City Is Appealing The Decision Of A Judge Who Ordered The City To Reinstate Workers Who Were Fired Because Of A Mandate.
On October 24th, a judge from the state of New York ruled that the city’s mandate that all public employees receive vaccinations was arbitrary and capricious, and as a result, it violated the constitution of the state.
He gave the city the order to reinstate city employees who had been fired over the mandate and pay them back for the time they had missed while they were unemployed.
The following day, New York City submitted a notice of appeal, indicating that it intends to fight the decision made by the judge.
(The municipality will not comment on the case, but they will say that they are under no obligation to reinstate workers while the appeal is pending.)
On that same day, however, the city took a different approach to the vaccination requirement that applied to the private sector.
The plan to remove the private sector mandate had already been announced by the Mayor, and on October 25, the Board of Health of the city voted unanimously to approve it.
When Mayor Adams was pressed for an answer to the question of how he could lift a vaccine mandate for some workers while leaving it in place for others, he
In September, he stated in front of reporters, “I don’t think anything having to do with COVID is — makes sense, and there’s no logical pathway.” You are responsible for making decisions based on how to keep our city safe and how to keep our employees working.
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As A Result Of The Development Of COVID, Employers Have Loosened Or Eliminated Their Vaccination Requirements.
There is no question that vaccination against COVID has resulted in fewer fatalities.
According to the findings of a recent study conducted by the Commonwealth Fund, widespread vaccination in the United States has had the cumulative effect of preventing 18 million additional hospitalizations and 3 million additional deaths.
Nevertheless, there have been a few changes that have made it more difficult to justify keeping employees who have not been vaccinated off the job.
To begin, it was discovered that omicron was significantly less lethal than its predecessors.
Second, it has become abundantly clear that although vaccines lower the risk of developing a severe illness, it is now apparent that they are not particularly effective at preventing infection or transmission.
According to the CDC, by the spring of 2022, the vast majority of Americans, regardless of whether they had been vaccinated or not, would have experienced COVID at least once.
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Workers Who Were Not Vaccinated Had A Difficult Time Finding New Jobs In New York City.
During a certain period of time, it was difficult for unvaccinated workers to find work in New York City.
When Kola Smith started working for the city sanitation department in 2004, she noticed that virtually every job posting included a requirement for COVID vaccination.
That shifted on November 1, when the city lifted the private sector mandate that had been in place.
Smith’s salary as a bus driver at LaGuardia Airport is significantly lower than what it was when he worked in the sanitation industry.
According to him, returning to his previous position is a definite possibility in the event that the court’s ruling is upheld and city employees are given the opportunity to be reinstated.
I adore all of the men. The work really speaks to my soul. In the event that they give me a call again, I’m all set to go “he says.
Garvey isn’t quite as confident. He believes that things will never be the same again after the heated argument that took place over the past year.
