This is the largest ever since the start of the pandemic. Workers protest in the square
New York employees who did not want to vaccinate against Covid have no time left and now 3,000 are in danger of being sacked. No Vax employees represent only 1% of the municipality’s workforce but if they were all sent home it would be the largest staff reduction in the United States for non-compliance with the vaccination obligation imposed last October by then Mayor Bill. de Blasio.
Hundreds of diehards marched across the Brooklyn Bridge on Monday shouting “Unvaccinated Lives Matter” and “Unvaccinated Lives Matter”, a slogan borrowed from the much better known “Black Lives Matter”. Over 20 unions representing teachers, firefighters and other municipal employees have filed a lawsuit against the mayor’s ultimatum challenging the legitimacy of the dismissal in case of failure to vaccinate. There are alternatives, argue the lawyers who filed the complaint with the Manhattan court, such as tampons or remote work.
The mayor of New York, Eric Adams, has so far appeared adamant and pointed out that it is the No Vax employees who have “decided to leave and not the city hall that wants to fire them”. The mayor, a former police officer, also wanted to keep other rules against the coronavirus established by his predecessor such as the request for vaccination to access gyms, indoor restaurants and cinemas. The vaccination obligation in the Big Apple has given the desired results. About 95 percent of the city’s 370,000 workers have received at least one dose, an 84 percent increase since the requirement was imposed in October.
Other cities like Boston and Chicago are moving to introduce it but have already received the stop of workers and unions. In San Francisco, Washington state and Massachusetts, hundreds of workers lost their jobs, although most complied with the obligation. The fear is that the dismissal of 3,000 municipal employees could have an impact on the services of the city. The authorities have ensured that the people in question have been on paid leave for months, so their dismissal should not matter. Adams on his part said he did not want to torpedo policemen, firefighters and teachers, but nevertheless reiterated that the priority now is “to impose vaccination against the virus”.
The message is clear, he reiterated a few hours before his ultimatum expired, “if you want to be employed in the municipality of New York you have to do at least one dose”.
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