Up to 4,000 NYC City Employees Could Lose Their Jobs If They Don’t Get Vaccinated – NBC New York (47)

Despite multiple protests, Mayor Eric Adams reaffirmed the city’s impending ultimatum: City workers have until tomorrow, Friday, February 11, to get vaccinated or they will be laid off.

As many as 3,000 city workers are set to lose their jobs Friday for refusing to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, in what could be the nation’s most drastic example of a workforce reduction tied to a vaccination requirement.

But the mandate, established by former Mayor Bill de Blasio, has proven effective, according to city statistics. About 95% of the 370,000 municipal workers have received at least one dose of the vaccine, an increase of 84% since de Blasio issued the mandate in October of last year.

Some 38,400 city workers have received at least one dose of the vaccine since the city mandate was announced in October. Additionally, so far more than 85% of the city’s adults are fully vaccinated in part thanks to city mandates.

Adams has expressed that he does not want to lay off police officers, firefighters, teachers and other essential workers; however, she has also made it clear that she will not step back from enforcing vaccination against the virus.

According to the city, the Police Department and the Department of Prisons have the lowest vaccination rates with 88% of workers having received at least one dose. About 95% of Fire Department and Sanitation Department workers have received at least one dose.

The 3,000 workers on the verge of losing their jobs would represent less than 1 percent of the city’s workforce, but it is still believed to be the largest reduction in workers in the nation in response to a vaccination mandate. Another roughly 1,000 new city employees must show proof of two doses by Friday or they too could be laid off.

In addition to the 3,000 workers who could be laid off, another 9,000 city workers are also unvaccinated but have used waivers or are working with unions to avoid being laid off.

In all, about 13,000 workers have applied for waivers, which are known as reasonable accommodations, and 54% of those applications have been processed so far, according to city officials. About 2,100 were approved and 4,910 were denied.

Other large cities such as Boston and Chicago have also implemented vaccination mandates similar to those in New York, despite opposition from unions and workers. But the Big Apple has also seen resistance to its mandate. The unions filed a lawsuit arguing that the city had exceeded its authority, but the challenges were unsuccessful. A group of unions filed a new lawsuit Tuesday claiming the city is not following due process in firing workers.

In other places like San Francisco, Washington state and Massachusetts, hundreds of workers have lost their jobs, though most have complied with the mandates.

The ultimatum in New York has sparked concerns about staffing shortages and how this will affect the services New Yorkers need, but the Adams administration maintains that the potential layoffs should have no effect, as the employees in question have been in agreement. unpaid leave for months.

The city also estimates that the actual number of laid-off city employees could be lower, as some may decide to get vaccinated just before Friday’s deadline.

The current mandate states that all city workers must receive a dose of the vaccine. New employees must receive two doses if they received a vaccine that includes a second dose. So far the booster dose is not required, but Adams has said she has considered requesting it as part of the mandate.

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