Philly’s firefighters must comply with Mayor Jim Kenney’s vaccine mandate, an arbitrator ruled

The union representing Philadelphia firefighters and paramedics has lost its fight against Mayor Jim Kenney’s coronavirus vaccine mandate for city employees.

A neutral arbitrator on Thursday ruled that members of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 22 must get vaccinated or apply for religious or medical exemptions by June 30.

The three other major municipal unions were already subject to rulings or agreements over the mandate, which for them was supposed to take effect next week. But because those agreements included language linking them to the other unions, Thursday’s ruling effectively delays the mandate for all of the city’s more than 20,000 unionized workers for another month.

The ruling brings to a close a saga that began when Kenney in November 2021 announced all unionized workers would be subject to the vaccine mandate beginning Jan. 14. Difficulty in hashing out agreements with the unions and staunch opposition from the firefighters led to months of delays.

Employees who are not in compliance with the policy on June 30 will be placed on “U-Vax Leave” for 30 days beginning July 6. During that period, workers must use their accumulated leave time, and will be unpaid if they run out of paid time off. After that period, the city may fire employees who remain out of compliance.

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Local 22 president Mike Bresnan said Thursday that the union was weighing its options on whether to appeal the ruling.

The three-person arbitration panel consisted of Bresnan, an attorney appointed by the city, and neutral arbitrator Robert Gifford, who wrote the decision. Gifford took the firefighters’ isolation on the issue into account in his decision on the 2-1 ruling.

“The majority of the Panel concludes it is appropriate to continue to treat represented municipal employees consistently through the issuance of an award that comports with the established pattern,” the decision said.

Bresnan wrote a blistering dissent.

“Make no mistake about it, this exercise is not about the implementation of a vaccine policy, it is an exercise in power brought by Mayor Jim Kenney acting as an authoritative dictator and not a democratically elected mayor in the city of brotherly love,” Bresnan wrote. “He has placed political optics above logic and public safety.”

Kenney said in a statement that the vaccine is “the best way to protect Philadelphians and save lives in the ongoing struggle to fight this pandemic.”

“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,” Kenney said. “Our firefighters, paramedics, and EMTs are on the front lines — sworn to protect and serve our residents with honor and I want to thank them for their steadfast service in the face of adversity.”

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The administration on Thursday confirmed that members of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 and District Councils 33 and 47 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees will now have until June 30 to comply.

Approximately 86% of the city workforce is vaccinated, Kenney spokesperson Kevin Lessard said Thursday, and 10% have applied for exemptions.

To obtain a medical exemption, employees must submit “documentation from a licensed healthcare provider that demonstrates the exemption applies to the specific individual submitting the certification because the COVID-19 vaccine is medically contraindicated for the individual.”

For religious exemptions, employees must submit a signed statement saying that they have a sincerely held religious belief that prevents them from receiving the vaccine.

Workers fired for failing to comply with the policy who later become vaccinated can be reinstated for up to one year after their separation.

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