The mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, announced Wednesday, October 20, the extension of the vaccine obligation against Covid-19 to all New York officials.
Police and firefighters are also targeted by this measure. Thus, from 1is November 2021, the vaccination obligation will come into force for all municipal employees. The mayor announced that “impact negotiations with the unions concerned” would also be launched immediately.
An exception is still provided for prison guards. The latter, understaffed, will benefit in this context from an additional period of one month and will have to submit to the vaccination obligation from 1is December.
The working and detention conditions of Rikers Island prison have also been denounced by the unions on several occasions.
$ 500 bonus to motivate employees
New York City already has a high vaccine rate among its officials. Of the 160,000 civil servants in the city, 71% of them have indeed received at least one dose of vaccine. They are 46,000 to still have to take the plunge. To motivate the recalcitrant, the town hall will offer a bonus of $ 500 to officials who will receive their first dose before October 29, 2021.
Beyond this date, officials who have not started a vaccination course will be suspended without remuneration. The suspension will last “until they show proof of vaccination to their supervisor.” Until now, only a part of the civil servants was subjected to the vaccination obligation, the others only had to present a negative test once a week.
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New York is not the only major city in the United States to have a mandatory vaccination requirement for public servants. The city of Chicago, however, encountered resistance from the police unions. For Texas, there is no question of allowing such a measure, the governor has prohibited public and private entities from making vaccination compulsory.
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