A day after Zohran Mamdani gained the election to succeed him, Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday informed NYC’s municipal staff who misplaced their jobs throughout the pandemic for refusing to get vaccinated for COVID-19 that they’ll come again to work, in the event that they so select.
The supply applies to terminated staff in all mayoral businesses, together with the FDNY and NYPD, in addition to NYC Public Colleges and the NYC Housing Authority. It’s the second time since 2023 that the mayor has reopened the doorways for former metropolis staff who didn’t take the vaccine to return to work.
Adams stated the unique coverage, put in place in 2021 by then-Mayor Invoice de Blasio, required metropolis staff to be vaccinated, which helped town cope with waves of the lethal virus. However NYC has lengthy since rebounded, and as Mayor Adams sees it, the vaccine mandate is not crucial.
New York Metropolis Fireplace Division (FDNY) union members, municipal staff and others show throughout a protest in opposition to town’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates on Manhattan’s Higher East Aspect in New York Metropolis, New York, U.S., October 28, 2021.REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photograph
“We recognize that we are in a different place today than we were nearly four years ago, and our policies should match the realities of the times,” Adams stated. “That’s why we’re updating our insurance policies to replicate our new well being and financial actuality, as we look ahead to welcoming again lots of our former staff to their former positions. Guaranteeing New York Metropolis has the strongest workforce attainable will proceed to make our metropolis safer, extra inexpensive, and one of the best place to boost a household.
The previous metropolis staff will be capable of return to their former civil service titles and obtain the identical pay they earned earlier than their termination.
Adams first lifted the mandate in February 2023. Nevertheless, again then, metropolis staff who had been fired for not getting the shot needed to reapply for his or her jobs; they weren’t routinely reinstated. About 450 terminated staff returned to work.
It’s unclear whether or not reapplication might be crucial for the affected former municipal staff.
Nevertheless, the brand new coverage permits “eligible employees” who had been terminated for not being vaccinated in opposition to COVID-19 the choice to return to metropolis service, pursuant to a proposed rule change by DCAS, topic to a public listening to and approval by the New York state Civil Service Fee, the mayor’s workplace stated.
