Unemployment looms for hundreds of City of Toronto staff who refuse to get vaccinated

Deadline for city staff to show they have had two doses of COVID-19 vaccine is midnight Jan. 2. Staff must be vaccinated, but museum visitors do not.

Thestar.com
Dec. 24, 2021
David Rider

Hundreds of City of Toronto employees face termination in less than two weeks unless they prove they have received at least two doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

They include Scarlett Martyn, an advanced care paramedic who has been speaking publicly about her opposition to the city’s strict vaccination mandate.

“I’m sure that what awaits me is termination from the city,” said Martyn, a 23-year-employee and mother of four kids who has been suspended without pay since Nov. 8. “I’m shocked (this) has led down this path.”

Martyn, who has received other vaccinations, believes she has natural protection from COVID-19 caught on the job early in the pandemic, wants more time to gauge safety, and says she’s willing to pay for her own daily tests.

About 100 Toronto paramedics who privately shared with each other concerns about the mandate have dwindled, but holdouts facing termination are mostly “senior staff,” the loss of whom could affect the service’s level of care, she says.

Toronto Public Health supports the mandate . Officials there, as many public health experts do, say vaccines are safe and the policies are key to protecting people, and boost community health by raising vaccination levels to reduce the spread of the virus in Toronto.

“Supporting your employees to get vaccinated is the best way to help protect them from the risks of COVID-19, prevent outbreaks in workplace settings and build confidence for a safer return to work as we continue living with this virus in our community,” Toronto public health chief Dr. Eileen de Villa said in August.

“This is why I’m strongly recommending that local employers establish a workplace vaccination policy to protect workers, their families and our communities.”

City workers in Martyn’s position are rare. Fewer than one per cent of more than 32,000 active city staff have not complied with the policy.

As of last Friday, 492 workers were on unpaid suspension, while another 73 were on leave pending review of requests for exemption on the grounds that their human rights are being infringed.

City staff could not say Thursday how many have since been vaccinated.

For the rest of the employees, the clock is ticking.

The deadline to submit proof of vaccination is midnight Jan. 2. Employees who have not received the vaccine will be fired with cause. Meetings will be scheduled with workers who have had one dose of the vaccine and they will be fired if they arrive without proof of a second dose.

The city says it will announce the number of terminated workers on Jan. 5.

CUPE Local 416, representing city outside workers including paramedics, launched a grievance arguing the termination penalty breaches workers’ collective agreement.

The union did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

Meanwhile, a longtime City of Toronto employee has left the public service when the city refused to enforce a vaccine mandate for museum visitors.

Dave Healey, a fully vaccinated historical interpreter in city museums, took unplanned retirement after more than 20 years of part-time and full-timer service.

Healey says he raised concerns over encounters with unvaccinated visitors in tight museum quarters. He said he was told all residents have the right to access city services, including cultural displays.

“It’s hypocritical,” to force workers to vaccinate, while putting them in contact with unvaccinated people, says Healy, who adds that he supports the satff vaccination mandate. And, he says, it puts immunocompromised Torontonians on the “sidelines,” unable to visit the museums safely.

“You can’t do two sets of rules like that.”

Healey has since landed another job where visitors must be vaccinated.