When COVID-19 was making the rounds a couple of years ago, many were concerned about needing to get a vaccine in an effort to stay safe. However, some cities didn’t offer that choice, giving their workers – and some police officers – a demand that they take it. Otherwise, they would be fired.
From the eyes of the New York government, they were doing the right thing, in an effort to “keep people safe from COVID,” at least from earlier statements they made. But by eliminating these jobs, they’ve now put themselves in a dire situation – especially with the defeat of their precious mandate.
Per this report from The Epoch Times, a New York Supreme Court judge has marked the mandate “null and void,” noting that it was unconstitutional and arbitrary.
Attorney Chad LaVeglia was delighted with the decision, noting, “For all the brave men and women who have been our first responders and have been brave through all this are now free, and you should be able to go back to work.”
But this brings about an interesting situation New York City now needs to work to resolve – what happened to those 2,000 employees. We’re talking about people that wanted to come to work in the midst of what was happening with COVID-19, but were taking precautionary measures against the vaccine because of a lack of information, or simply because they didn’t want to risk their health taking it. And how did the city reward them? By firing them.
This was downright stupid, if you ask me. How will you replace those people? Waiting around for employees that did take the vaccine and were waiting to provide proof while those jobs were left unfulfilled?
Keep in mind that a good portion of those jobs were police officers. Our proud men and women in blue defend innocent people; and because a certain few didn’t feel like taking a vaccine, they lose their jobs over it? You’re kidding me.
But New York is paying the price now. Thanks to the ridiculous laws (mainly surrounding guns, in an effort to get around the Supreme Court overturning previous ones), over 2,000 officers have turned in their badges, foregoing any well-earned pension in favor of a job that provided way less strenuous conditions.
The vaccine mandate played a part in that for some. Imagine that you’re ready to do your part in protecting others, but then someone gives you a hard time because you’re still not sure if the vaccine is right for you. (Again, this was in the days when many were in doubt, and some didn’t take the vaccine at all.) And then you lose your job over it. Over a choice that, in the long run, didn’t even matter, with the judge knocking it down with the power of a gavel.
New York needs to make things right for these employees. Several have already engaged in a lawsuit, which I’m sure the city is already working on trying to get dismissed. But it just needs to swallow its pride and offer these jobs back to these people – along with an apology from the heart and, for that matter, maybe even some residual payout to make up for the strain these people had to go through when they were let go.
Now the real question is if such a thing will be applied. New York is still working on trying to balance the load on the streets after the loss of police officers, so who knows when this issue will be addressed? But it should be sooner rather than later, because the reputation of the city and its administration speak volumes.
I sincerely hope New York makes things right. Stop imposing rules that will get people easily dismissed and start making ones that take better care of your citizens. Ball’s in your court, NYC.
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