Chicago Employees Fired for Not Getting a COVID-19 Vaccine ...

[IceWizard]

Chicago Employees Fired for Not Getting a COVID-19
Vaccine Must Be Reinstated: Judge







An Illinois judge Wednesday ruled, in a 78-page decision, the city of Chicago violated
the state’s Public Labor Relations Act.

Administrative law Judge Anna Hamburg-Gal ordered Chicago officials to rescind its COVID-19
vaccination policy for employees. Hamburg-Gal further ordered that any disciplinary actions
against employees for not getting vaccinated be undone and expunged from their personnel record.

“Reinstate any employees terminated as a result of the Respondent’s unilateral application
of its vaccination policy and expunge any record of the termination from their personnel files,”
the judge also ordered.



The Epoch Times further reported:

Workers in Chicago who were fired for not complying with
the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate must get their jobs back,
a judge said in a new ruling.

City officials violated multiple parts of the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act
by imposing the mandate without negotiating with unions representing the
workers over the effects of the mandate, including consequences for not
getting vaccinated, Administrative Law Judge Anna Hamburg-Gal said in a
78-page ruling dated April 19.

The mandate itself was not subject to bargaining because the vaccination
requirements were “integral to [the city’s] ability to maintain a functional
workforce that was capable of carrying out public services during a global
pandemic,” Hamburg-Gal said. But that didn’t remove the need to bargain
over aspects of the mandate.

“Even where an employer’s decision to implement a management policy is
not subject to negotiations, the Act requires good-faith collective bargaining
over the effects of that policy decision on the terms and conditions of
employment of bargaining unit employees,” the judge said.

Effects that should have been negotiated included sick leave availability for
workers who were injured by a vaccine and discipline for failing to report
vaccination status or failing to get vaccinated, according to the ruling.

No emergency removed the bargaining requirements for the mandate,
which was imposed on Oct. 8, 2021, the judge said.

“By that date, the pandemic had been in existence for well over a year
and a vaccine had been available to the public for over ten months under
Emergency Use Authorization,” the ruling noted.

The city also violated the law by not providing unions with information they
requested that was relevant to negotiations and by eliminating a testing
alternative to vaccination.

The city was ordered to bargain with the unions, including the
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME);
provide the information that had been withheld, and rescind the vaccination
requirements.

City officials were also ordered to reinstate any workers terminated as a
result of the mandate, rescind any discipline for workers who were not
terminated, and expunge the records of both sets of workers as it relates
to actions taken due to the mandate.

Employees who lost pay or benefits due to the improper changes to sick
leave made as part of the mandate must be compensated, the judge also said.

A spokesperson for AFSCME told news outlets: “We think it’s a strong
decision and favorable for worker rights generally.”

A spokesperson for the mayor’s office said the ruling “was an erroneous
decision that does not follow the law, facts nor importantly the science”
and that the city was considering its next steps.

[Charon]

one city down. we gotta see military re instated. i bet they all want airplane pilots without vax to be back on the job.

They treated us all like criminals. Now, i completed the task and am off.

[Mr. HIND]

Where I'm at the police staff is down to half. City mailed out letters to cops laid off for not vaxing asking them to return. Response has been null so far.. Deservedly so.

[Charon]

The police were not allowed to wear masks. They were forced to guard dead bodies until the morgue showed up. and it took hours.

a relative on the force went thru an awful lot. And most got covid. So police at least in some areas are less than thrilled with how they were treated.

So now so many that are hired are brutal. Abusive. Not the way cops used to behave.