Mayor Adams Fires 1,430 NYC Workers for Refusing to get COVID Vaccine

HI INDIA NEWS DESK
NEW YORK, NY — More than 1,400 city workers were handed termination notices Friday after failing to comply with a vaccine mandate for municipal workers, according to the Mayor’s Office.

The 1,430 firings include 914 DOE staff, 100 at the New York City Housing Authority and 75 at the Department of Corrections, city data shows. The 1,430 employees represent less than 1 percent of the city’s 370,000 workers.

“Our goal was always to vaccinate, not terminate,” Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement on Monday. “I’m grateful to all the city workers who continue to serve New Yorkers and ‘Get Stuff Done’ for the greatest city in the world.”

A large majority of city workers let go Friday had been on leave without pay since November under an agreement between the city and their unions, and were given the option to stay on city health benefits until June, or September, of this year, according to an announcement from City Hall.

A group of nearly 2,400 employees opted not to stay under city health benefits and were told they would be terminated by Feb. 11 unless they got vaccinated, officials said.
By the deadline, 1,428 had still not complied.

The other slate of workers on leave, about 40 percent of those given the deadline, have returned to work after complying with the mandate, officials said.

Two employees fired Friday were among a group of around 1,000 new city workers who had until Feb. 11 to get their second vaccine dose, according to officials.

They were among 1,000 new municipal workers brought in after Aug. 2 who were given a Feb. 11 deadline to get fully vaccinated, officials said.

Previous reports estimated as many as 3,000 city workers would get the boot on the Friday deadline.

Adams had refused to reveal the exact number on Friday, saying the city needed to do final calculations given that some workers got the shot but had yet to file their paperwork.

The New York City vaccine mandate, put in place under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, is thought to be the largest workforce reduction in the country over vaccine requirements, according to the New York Times.

The mandate has faced several protests and at least two lawsuits, including one filed on the grounds of religious freedom last week.

Adams has said he respects the right of employees to use the legal system, but will enforce the mandate as long as it is the “law of the land.”

The city plans to evaluate how many of the employees who are fired will need to be replaced by new hires, according to Adams.