PRESS RELEASE: NYC Mayor's Office Pulls Bait-&-Switch On Fired Workers
Reinstatement of unvaccinated workers was called "right of return" by mayor's office but was quickly abandoned
NYC’s Office of the Mayor announced two months ago that they were implementing a “right to return” for fired unvaccinated workers to come back to work for NYC. Firefighters, cops, teachers, sanitation workers and more who declined the COVID shot would be allowed to get back to working for NYC without having to sign a legal waiver.
However the rule change required to put this into effect has stalled at the New York State Civil Service Commission (CSC) in Albany. Last month it was supposed to be voted on, but the item was not on the agenda. The Mayor of NYC needed to present the rule change to the committee and to have it voted on, but it appears that did not happen.
Last week New York Workers for Choice launched an action alert asking all NYC workers to call their unions and tell leadership to call Mayor Mamdani and ask him to get this rule change to a vote at the CSC this Wednesday, January 14. As of today the rule change is not on the agenda for the CSC meeting happening just two days from now.
Former NYC special education teacher Michael Kane, who is also the founder of Teachers for Choice, stated the following:
I hope that not only unvaccinated workers call their unions about this rule change, but rather all city workers should help support our return. We are skilled workers with decades of experience while NYC is short-staffed in every single agency. There is absolutely no reason to punish us any longer. Many people’s lives have been ruined over the past four years. Getting back to the work for the city could save hundreds if not thousands of people, may of whom are now battling poverty.
New York civil rights attorney Sujata Gibson had this to say:
At this point, allowing fired unvaccinated city workers to return is both legally prudent and humane. The City itself acknowledged in court that it adopted an unconstitutional policy to fire these workers in 2021 and 2022. The prior administration publicly acknowledged they should be brought back but never implemented the rule. Since then, courts have denied motions to dismiss, summary judgment is being granted, and settlements are beginning. Meanwhile, the City is spending millions of taxpayer dollars continuing to appeal cases it is increasingly losing, while many former employees remain out of work years after the mandate’s repeal, some facing severe hardship and even homelessness. New leadership has an opportunity to at least stop the clock on back pay and let them come back to work.
Retired NYPD Lieutenant John Macari of The Finest Unfiltered said the following:
Eric Adams arbitrarily enforced a vaccine mandate that forced countless New York City public servants, cops, teachers, firefighters, and other dedicated workers out of careers in city service, while granting exemptions to friends, political allies and celebrities. In the final days of his administration, he cruelly teased these workers with the hope of reinstatement, only to leave office without honoring that commitment.
History will remember his administration as one marked by corruption, inconsistency, and a troubling disregard for the very working class New Yorkers he swore an oath before GOD to serve.
The fact that this targeted tyranny occurred under a mayor who came from a working class NYC family and who at one time wore an NYPD uniform only deepens the sense of betrayal felt by the workers and families harmed by his decisions.
FDNY Officer Matt Connor, one of the founder’s of Bravest for Choice, had this to say:
On November 19th, 2025 the Department of Citywide Administrative Services held its hearing on the proposal to amend Rule 6.2.8 which would allow competitive labor class employees to be reinstated to city service after being dismissed for COVID- 19 vaxx-mandate non-compliance. Of the advocacy groups who attended the hearing, Bravest For Choice is the only such group to have the union president of each labor union representing its members testify in support of the rule change (Andy Ansbro, UFA; Jim Brosi, UFOA, Oren Barzilay DC-37 Local 2507).
I believe this across-the-board union presence is reflective of the relentless advocacy that Bravest For Choice has provided since the mandate. Our efforts have far exceeded and outperformed any unions efforts to affect reinstatements thus far but of course the show of solidarity is noted and appreciated as we work diligently to finally end the madness of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate and get these members back to work.
However, since that show of solidarity on November 19th we have seen two consecutive meetings of the New York State Civil Service Commission come and go without the rule change calendared for a vote amid complete silence from the same unions. The first of these commission meetings took place on December 17th, 2025 and the calendar was publicly accessible on the Commission website six days prior to the hearing; proposed rule change 6.2.8 was conspicuously absent from the agenda. Not one labor union, including any of the fire unions made a public comment calling out former mayor Eric Adams for his failure to follow through on his already lackluster reinstatement policy (which did not include back pay for time lost, pensionable service time). Had the NYC labor unions spoken out in one voice in advance of the December 17th hearing, perhaps those seeking reinstatement would not be at the mercy of Mayor Mamdani, who as a candidate has already asserted he does not support reinstating workers who were fired for vaccine non-compliance.
Thus far Mamdani has not sent the Adams era rule change to Albany to be considered by the Commission for a vote, as indicated by its absence of the agenda for the upcoming January 14th meeting, pushing the earliest possible rule change vote into February. This omission is yet again met with the silence of the unions representing impacted members, leaving able bodied and highly trained workers in limbo yet again. If there is one thing Bravest For Choice exemplifies, it is that this fight will not be won with silence.
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Sickens me that those unions still aren’t there for their workers. Actions certainly do speak louder than words!
Reposted