First responder unions resist COVID-19 mandates for front line workers

[left-of-center2012]

Thousands of police officers, paramedics and health care professionals who are at the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic are at risk of losing their jobs for not complying with newly implemented mandates to be vaccinated against the infectious disease. Backlash against vaccine mandates is coming from unions representing first responders who are challenging whether elected officials can lawfully force employees to disclose medical information.

Chicago Police Department told its employees that unvaccinated officers could not only lose their jobs but also put their retirement benefits at risk. Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced in August that all city personnel must be vaccinated by Oct. 15.
It was met with resistance by Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara who had called for police officers to defy the mayor’s order.

In Seattle, Police Officers Guild President Mike Solan told an NBC affiliate last week that the city’s vaccine mandate for its employees is “unreasonable” and “void of common sense.” Solan called for accommodations for officers who won’t take the shot.
The Massachusetts state police union has said at least 150 officers have resigned or submitted paperwork intending to do so because of the mandate, which puts noncompliant employees in line to be suspended or fired.

“More than 700,000 people have died of COVID …
it was the No. 1 cause of death among police departments and police officers. It’s something that we should take seriously,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said this week.

https://thehill.com/regulation/labor/577812-first-responder-unions-resist-covid-19-mandates-for-front-line-workers

[Dawson Leery]

1. I have no support for police "unions" and

am quite cold on the teachers union.

No masks, no vaccines, no social distancing. This is why COVID is persisting.

[tirebiter]

2. Percentages, please.

150 in, I’m assuming, one local isn’t all that many

[ProfessorGAC]

9. For Massachusetts, The Denominator Is 2,200

So, about 6.8% of their workforce.
Given cops retire anywhere from the early option to 65, 3-4% retire every year anyway.
So, it's higher than normal, but only by a few %.
Let them go. There's inherent cost savings in letting them go.
Hard to believe the department would be paralyzed by losing one in thirty, until they decide if replacement is warranted.
For Chicago, the numbers are tricky.
The city only knows how many acknowledge being vaxxed, and those admitting they aren't.
But, only around 65% of cops complied with declaring. So, 35% of cops are unknowns.
While I don't believe that whole 35% is unvaxxed, there's not a great way to estimate what fraction of that 35% is vaxxed but don't want to admit it. Given the union stridency, I can imagine some cops getting the shot but not wanting peers, superiors, or union officials to know they didn't toe the line.

[Phoenix61]

3. WTF is wrong with them?

You’d think they’d want to keep their dues paying members alive.

[Initech]

5. Facebook brain washing.

[PSPS]

4. "Backlash against vaccine mandates is coming from unions"

There's an easy fix for that, of course. These people think they're an occupying force instead of public servants. We're all better off without them.

[Initech]

6. Yeah the easy fix is to get rid of Facebook and Fox News.

It's proving to be a very toxic combination.

[ProfessorGAC]

10. Inherent Cost Reduction

Rs should love it. They always salivate over reducing budgets!

[Coventina]

12. Occupying force is right. I'm sorry to say it but every PD, FD & Paramedic I've met have had a god

complex.

They seem to think we're supposed to bow down and kiss their feet for them having chosen their profession.

When they walk into grocery stores and other places of business they seem to think that they don't need to be polite and wait in line like everyone else.



Little do they know, all the grocery personnel refer to them as "smurfs". (Because they all wear blue t-shirts).

[LiberalFighter]

13. Good to know about the smurf thing. :)

[Hestia]

16. Got to admit, the uniform worship propaganda after 9/11 worked and is still working.

People are not heroes - they perform heroic acts. Huge difference and that distinction needs to be pushed back on. It seems that every time a person is lauded as a hero, the clay feet are noticed. Same with military personnel.

Note the mask and vax holes in all states, departments, branches. In fact, why do they get more "media" attention rather than actual news that is not confusing.

[LonePirate]

8. Why do these unions support the small # of vaccine refusers instead of the larger# of supporters?

Shouldn’t these unions be concerned about the health and well-being of their members instead of the relatively few dissenters?

[Hestia]

17. Because they aren't unions in the classic sense but fraternities - big difference. They drag the

name Union down and confuse and conflate it with the public. Keeps the number of people who want to join a Union down because the first thing people think of is FOP. It works...

[Caliman73]

11. If you won't take a safe and effective vaccine, then you are not a public servant.

Since you are GETTING PAID, and PRETTY DAMN WELL AT THAT, then you shouldn't get to be a public servant.

You are not serving the public by keeping the risk of spreading a highly contagious disease with significant health consequences, high. I am a public servant. I am a proud Union member. I am proud that my Union SEIU is taking a stand for science and public health. I go out into the community to do investigations into abuse of vulnerable people. I WILL NOT be a vector for disease to them, or to my family. That is why I got vaccinated and will get my booster shot as soon as possible.

[LiberalFighter]

14. I have several problems with police and firefighters.

1) They use city property for their funerals. Members of other unions use their own personal vehicles.
2) They fundraise the public for political contributions. Other unions solicit only their members.

[radius777]

15. These right wing 'unions' (cartels) are the core of the probem

that exists in most major cities. These people are accountable to no-one, usually live in GOP suburbs and look down on the blue cities and residents they are supposed to serve, etc. When they don't get what they want they basically retaliate by 'going slow' and having 'sick outs' etc. They tend to juice the city for money, make up crimes etc so they have more 'work' to do to get overtime. It's all a racket and it's time Dems woke up to this, that these people use the front of being a 'union' but are actually lawless cartels.