NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Mayor Bill de Blasio and the firefighters’ unions are once again at odds over the COVID-19 vaccine mandate after thousands of FDNY members called out sick Tuesday morning.
During a press conference, the mayor slammed the fire unions for encouraging members to skip their vaccines.
“The fire union is doing a disservice to their members and the city by discouraging vaccination,” he said.
Still, the mayor did note that no fire companies have had to close since the mandate took effect Monday morning.
“All the fire houses are open and the response time in normal,” the mayor said.
However, Uniformed Firefighter Association President Andrew Ansbro told a different story – noting 60 fire companies were closed Monday.
“When we ride short, positions are empty and jobs that we expect to get done aren’t done, so when firefighters approach that fire, they don't know who's there to do what job and they have to take more of a defensive position,” he said.
Ansbro said the sickouts have nothing to do with the vaccine mandate and everything to do with firefighters being overworked.
“Right now, New York City firefighters are being worked to their limit and you would expect medical leave to go up,” he said.
He also blamed the staffing shortage on the mayor in a tweet Tuesday morning.
“By the commissioners’ own admission, the majority of members on sick leave are unvaccinated,” Ansbro said. “They would not be working because they were sent home by [Mayor] de Blasio’s dangerous mandate. You can’t have it both ways. This crisis is clearly on the Mayor.”
Though, the mayor said Ansbro’s explanation is “obviously artificial.”
A total of 81% of FDNY members have been vaccinated against coronavirus.
De Blasio said he hopes to see that number trend upwards, and sickouts trend downward.
“To call out sick does a disservice to New Yorkers, it does a disservice to your fellow firefighters,” de Blasio said. “Remember the vast majority of firefighters have now done the right thing and gotten vaccinated, so I want to give credit to them.”
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