COVID-19 vaccine required for all NYC public school employees, de Blasio says

The New York City Department of Health will require all city public school workers to get at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by Sept. 27, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Monday.

The mandate would apply to all 148,000 Department of Education workers, including teachers, administrators, custodial staff and cafeteria workers. School begins Sept. 13 for New York City’s roughly 1 million students.

The city previously said teachers, like other city employees, would have to get the shots or get tested weekly for the virus.

The new policy marks the first city-issued no-option vaccination mandate for a broad group of municipal workers, though Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Friday that coaches and students in football, basketball and other "high-risk" sports would have to get inoculated before play begins.

"We've got to make sure that more and more people get vaccinated, we've got to make sure our schools are safe and healthy in particular for our kids," de Blasio said during a news conference at Staten Island’s Borough Hall on Monday. "We know this is going to help ensure that everyone is safe."

No labor leaders were present at Monday’s news conference and the mayor said the city would negotiate with union leaders to determine what is needed to ensure employees are able to meet that mandate.

The city hasn't immediately said what the penalty will be for refusing, or whether there will be exemptions. The previous vaccinate-or-test-requirement had provisions for unpaid suspensions for workers who didn't comply.

Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, said its priority was "keeping our kids safe and the schools open," but provisions for medical exceptions and other details "must be negotiated with the UFT and other unions, and if necessary, resolved by arbitration."

Robert Troeller, the president of the custodians' union, said he was concerned that the city had announced the requirement without bargaining.

Troeller said he believed about 60% of the 850 members of Local 891 of the International Union of Operating Engineers had gotten at least a first shot. But at least some who haven't "are dead-set against this," he said.

Leadership of District Council 37, the city's largest umbrella labor union, said it had similar concerns.

"While we strongly encourage our members to get vaccinated, we do not believe that the city has the legal authority to change the terms and conditions of employment without bargaining," the union's executive director Henry Garrido said in a statement. "District Council 37, along with a coalition of unions that make up the Municipal Labor Committee, will file an Unfair Labor Practices compliant over the City’s failure to bargain."

De Blasio said the city has been in talks for weeks and he hopes agreements can be reached without invoking the arbitration process. The new requirement came as federal regulators gave full approval to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine,

"I think everyone understands we're in a crisis and vaccinations are the answer" he said. "But I also understand that their job is to represent their members. And that's why bargaining is so important to make sure that this is done in a way that the unions believe is equitable."

Earlier this month, de Blasio announced a new "Key to NYC" program scheduled to start Sept. 13. The initiative will require anyone age 12 and older to show proof they have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine in order to participate in indoor dining, bars, fitness and entertainment, including movie and live performance theaters, museums and a wide range of indoor venues and businesses.

With AP

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By Vera Chinese

vera.chinese@newsday.com@VeraChinese

Vera Chinese joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.