New York City has laid off more than 1,000 municipal workers who failed to comply with the city’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate, the mayor’s office said Monday.
The 1,430 workers who lost their jobs represent less than 1% of the city’s workforce of 370,000 people and layoffs were fewer than previously expected. Friday’s deadline to receive the vaccine.
The city sent notices in late January to up to 4,000 workers saying they had to show proof they received at least two doses of the vaccine or they would lose their jobs. Three-quarters of those workers had already been on unpaid leave for months because they missed an earlier deadline to get vaccinated in order to stay on the job.
Mayor Eric Adams’ office said hundreds of workers submitted proof of their vaccinations or received their vaccinations after receiving notice that they would be laid off.
“City workers served on the front lines during the pandemic, and by getting vaccinated, they are showing, once again, that they are willing to do the right thing to protect themselves and all New Yorkers,” Adams said in a statement. “Our goal was always to vaccinate, not lay off, and city workers stepped up and met the goal that was set before them.”
Of the 1,430 workers laid off, about 64% worked for the city’s Department of Education. The United Federation of Teachers, the public school teachers’ union, said last week that about 700 of its members had received notice that they would be laid off. The union joined others in suing to block the layoffs, but a judge ruled in favor of the city on Thursday.
The US Supreme Court on Friday dismissed an appeal by a group of Department of Education employees.
New York City has imposed some of the most extensive vaccination mandates in the country, requiring nearly all city workers to get vaccinated and asking private employers to make sure their workers get vaccinated as well. Customers of restaurants, gyms and entertainment venues also have to show proof of vaccination to enter.
The United Federation of Teachers had reached an agreement with the city to allow its members to choose to stay on unpaid leave until September 5. But some 700 members chose not to extend their license or provide proof of vaccination. The union argued that the workers deserved a due process involving a hearing before being fired.
The United Federation of Teachers had no immediate comment Monday on the numbers released by the city.
Last week, New York City averaged around 1,700 new cases of the virus per day, according to state statistics. That’s down from the nearly 41,000 cases a day at the peak of Omicron’s wave in early January, but still 56% higher than when the vaccination mandate for city employees was announced in October.
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