PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Philadelphia firefighters’ union has gone to court in an effort to avoid complying with the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate which took effect Friday.
Firefighters have the lowest self-reported COVID-19 vaccination rate of any city department, in the 61 to 70% range.
The International Association of Fire Fighters Local 22 is using that low rate as the key argument in its lawsuit against the mandate.
The suit argues that since as much as one-third of the department could be suspended for not complying, the city would face dangerously low staffing levels.
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It has asked for an injunction against the mandate.
The city responds, somewhat exasperatedly, that it has been trying to negotiate a satisfactory agreement with the union for months, as it has with its three other unions.
The mandate was announced in November but delayed several times as arbitrators worked out agreements between the city and its three other unions. The city said the firefighters resisted the arbitration process until last week—agreeing to it just before the mandate took effect last Friday.
The lawsuit now argues that the city can’t enforce the mandate until after the arbitration process.
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The city responds that it “cannot afford to delay the mandate any further.” It maintains the mandate is intended to protect both city workers and the public from contracting a deadly virus.
In its statement, the city said it wishes the union president “would spend more time urging his membership to get vaccinated and protect themselves and the residents they serve instead of spreading falsehoods and attempting to engender fear.”
The union president was not initially available for comment.
As of Monday evening, a hearing on the union’s injunction request had not been scheduled.
