New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio blasted many city union leaders who were opposing the region's vaccine mandate that was implemented with the goal of curbing the spread of the coronavirus infection.
The mayor's statements called union leaders "downright unpatriotic" and threatened New York City Fire Department firefighters of broader "consequences" for their involvement in a fake sickout to avoid the mandate. In an interview, de Blasio said that union leaders were "doing exactly the wrong thing."
New York's Vaccine Mandate
The New York City mayor said that in recent days, some union leaders have stepped up and have embraced the mandate, having workers get vaccinated in compliance with the law. However, de Blasio also noted that there have been many who have completely opposed the requirement, arguing they were putting their own internal politics ahead of the safety of the people.
The fake sickout involved roughly 2,300 firefighters from the FDNY, a number which represents more than double the usual 1,000. The incident left 18 fire and ladder companies temporarily out of service and several others unmanned, the New York Post reported.
De Blasio's threats against the firefighters who were involved in the alleged sickout come as he recently revealed that roughly 9,000 city workers were placed on unpaid leave for failure to comply with the vaccine mandate. The number represented about 6% of the city's entire workforce that totaled about 378,000 employees.
But the New York City mayor specifically addressed the issue with the firefighters on Monday, saying it was unacceptable. De Blasio said that the right thing to do was to come to work and protect the people of the city, as they swore to during their oath.
The mayor said that the city was looking into possible violations of the Taylor Law, which prohibits public workers from striking under certain circumstances. "Whether these union leaders have now crossed a line, we are watching every single thing they say and do - every email, every tweet - we are watching everything. If we see a violation of the Taylor Law, we will be in court immediately," said de Blasio, the New York Daily News reported.
Opposition to the Requirement
There were still roughly 12,000 city workers who had yet to get their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine but had applied for a religious or medical exemption. The city has allowed these individuals to continue working while their requests are being evaluated.
In less than two weeks after the vaccine mandate was first announced with the Monday deadline, many city agencies observed a surge of vaccinations. The Emergency Medical Service experienced a jump from 61% to 87% in its vaccination rate. On the other hand, the Sanitation Department's numbers jumped 20%, from 62% to 82%.
Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis said that over the weekend and into Monday, the effects of the vaccine mandate on the labor shortage were evident in the firefighting industry within the city. The firefighters' union said that workers at a firehouse in the Bath Beach neighborhood of Brooklyn came to work despite being unvaccinated but were sent home due to the mandate, the New York Times reported.
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