NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — The union that represents New York City correction officers filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against the city over its vaccine mandate and "punitive" 12-hour work shifts.
Correction officers had until Nov. 30 to receive at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine or face unpaid leave while an emergency executive order by Mayor Bill de Blasio authorized 12-hour work shifts to address staffing shortages, citing "excessive staff absenteeism."
Though Correction Officers' Benevolent Association President Benny Boscio called De Blasio's order "reckless and misguided," as of Dec. 3, 83% of its uniformed staff complied with the one jab order— over a 30% increase since October.
Now COBA has sued the city, asking a judge to "stop the city's arbitrary and capricious vaccination deadline," accusing de Blasio of treating correction officers "like slave labor."
"We're in the middle of a severe staffing crisis because of the mayor's negligence in not hiring correction officers for three years, even as the inmate population skyrocketed and violence continued to soar," Boscio said in an emailed statement.
As of Monday afternoon, the DOC said in a tweet that AWOL incidents have declined by 81%, staff working triple tours in its large jails declined by 93% and the number of unstaffed posts declined by 80%.
In Boscio's statement, he urged the return of a test option or vaccine option, allowing officers "on leave without pay [to] return to work and all officers can be relieved from working 12-hour tours, 60 hours over 5 consecutive days."
"We will take this fight against the mandate and this punitive policy of 12-hour tours as far as we can," he added.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the city's Law Department said they are confident the mandate and de Blasio's order will be allowed to continue.
"The city is grateful for every officer who has gotten vaccinated," they added. "We're confident the mandate and the 12-hour shifts will be upheld by the court."
