Philly’s long-delayed vaccine mandate for city workers is set to take effect May 31, for now

Mayor Jim Kenney’s long-delayed policy requiring unionized city workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 is now set to take effect May 31. But it could be delayed again because the city has not yet reached an agreement over the policy with the Philadelphia firefighters union.

Kenney announced the vaccine requirement in November, and it was initially supposed to take effect Jan. 14. But the administration has struggled to quickly reach agreements over its implementation with the four major municipal unions, which represent about 24,000 city workers.

The city had previously reached agreements with the District Councils 33 and 47 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which includes non-uniformed employees such as sanitation workers in the Streets Department and health-care professionals in the Department of Public Health.

On Tuesday, an arbitration panel sorting out the issue for the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 set May 31 as the new deadline for the city’s 6,000 cops to receive at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine or apply for religious or medical exemptions. Workers out of compliance will go on 30 days of leave beginning June 6, after which they can be fired if they remain unvaccinated or do not secure an exemption.

All of the labor agreements, however, include provisions that delay the policy’s implementation if other unions secure later deadlines, and the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 22 is still fighting tooth and nail to prevent language that could lead to its members being fired from being included in its arbitration decision.

Kenney spokesperson Joy Huertas said the administration intends to implement the May 31 deadline for all unionized city workers regardless of what happens with Local 22′s arbitration proceedings.

The arbitration panel meets next on May 4, and it’s unclear how soon after that it will issue a decision, said Mike Bresnan, who is the president of Local 22 as well as its appointee on the three-person panel. The panel also includes a city appointee and a neutral arbitrator.

“Obviously now everything is in our lap,” Bresnan said Tuesday.

Bresnan said Kenney’s stance is “mind-boggling” because the mayor’s father served in the Fire Department.

“The mayor of Philadelphia, the son of a Philadelphia Fire Department battalion chief, is willing to terminate firefighters over his mandate, and that’s sad,” Bresnan said.

Kenney has spoken of his father’s public service as an inspiration for his career, and his administration has helped to rebuild the Fire Department following major cuts during former Mayor Michael A. Nutter’s tenure. The vaccine policy, he said, is intended to keep city workers and the public safe.

“The safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines remain the best way to protect Philadelphians and save lives in the ongoing struggle to fight this pandemic,” Kenney said in a statement. “As public servants, we bear a responsibility to mitigate the harm that would result from inadvertent transmission of COVID-19 to our colleagues and the public and to set an example for other organizations and companies.”

The panel that issued Tuesday’s decision on the FOP said that 97% of Philly police officers are fully or partially vaccinated, or have been approved for exemptions.

A vaccine mandate for the administration’s 2,000 non-unionized employees took effect in December, and 13 city employees were fired for failing to comply.