Monday, February 6, 2023

BREAKING NEWS: NYC Ends The COVID Mandate For All Municipal Workers on February 10, 2023

FILE — A man walks out of a vaccination bus at a mobile vaccine clinic in Midtown Manhattan, Dec. 6, 2021. Mary Altaffer/AP

Wonderful news! But what does this mean for you?

First of all, please do not run to the first attorney who wants to "help" you get what you want. PLEASE think about who actually knows Education Law and the rules and regulations.

We have some suggestions:

Step 1. You must start working on getting back on salary. Immediately. Write a Certified letter or email and send to your Director of Human Resources and your most recent Supervisor

Step 2. If you were (wrongfully – my opinion) told to drop your Union membership, re-join when you are placed on salary.

Step 3. Make sure that you have a current Notice of Claim filed. Send me an email with your Claim, I will tell you how to file it.

Step 4. Apply for the position that you held before your termination.

Step 5. Grieve when any action is not taken by your employer in a timely fashion, or file a PERB Complaint.

Step 6. File a lawsuit to get everything you want, including a clearing of your name.

Those are my thoughts.

I’d like to hear from you, so email me at betsy@advocatz.com and let me know what I can do to help

Betsy Combier

NYC to drop COVID vaccine mandate for city workers

By Spectrum News Staff New York City

UPDATED 12:20 PM ET Feb. 06, 2023 PUBLISHED 11:20 AM ET Feb. 06, 2023

COVID-19 vaccines will become optional for current and prospective city workers on Friday, Feb. 10, after “the expected ratification at the next Board of Health meeting” scheduled for Feb. 9, Adams said in a press release.

Approximately 1,780 city workers who were fired for refusing to get vaccinated will not be reinstated automatically, but will be allowed to apply for jobs with their former departments “through existing city rules and regulations and hiring processes,” the release noted.

The lifting of the mandate will extend to non-public school, early child care and day care workers, the release said.

Public school buildings, meanwhile, will no longer require visitors to provide proof of vaccination, according to the release.

“With more than 96% of city workers and more than 80% of New Yorkers having received their primary COVID-19 series and more tools readily available to keep us healthy, this is the right moment for this decision,” Adams said in a statement. “I continue to urge every New Yorker to get vaccinated, get boots, and take the necessary steps to protect themselves and those around them from COVID-19.”

The mayor’s announcement came nearly a year after the city terminated 1,430 municipal workers in one day for failing to submit proof that they were vaccinated.

The city dropped its vaccine mandate for private-sector workers this past November.

New York City Ends Vaccine Mandate for City Workers NY TIMES

In the Times’ article, Dr. Ashwin Vasan says:

“The city’s health commissioner, Dr. Ashwin Vasan, said that vaccine mandates had been an important tool, but that the city was now leaving the “emergency phase of the pandemic.”

“It’s clear these mandates saved lives and were absolutely necessary to meet the moment,” he said.”

Yeah, probably. But the termination of excellent, hard-working City workers instead of suspension with pay and remote work? Unconscionable.