Eight workers fired for not complying with the MBTA’s vaccine mandate shall be given the chance to return to work, following the T’s determination to take away the pandemic-era restriction.
The MBTA rescinded its vaccine mandate, which was carried out in October 2021, on Dec. 2, 2022, based on a memo despatched to workers by outgoing General Manager Steve Poftak that was shared with the Herald.
In the memo, Poftak stated “we now know that being vaccinated does not prevent an individual from contracting or transmitting COVID-19” and cited up to date CDC tips concerning an identical quarantine and isolation protocols for vaccinated and unvaccinated people as causes for eradicating the coverage.
“As a result of the vaccine policy being rescinded, (eight) previously non-compliant employees will be offered an opportunity to return to work, if vacancies exist, through a negotiated settlement agreement with their respective union,” MBTA spokesperson Lisa Battiston stated.
The eight workers are all bus drivers and members of the MBTA’s largest union, the Boston Carmen’s Local 589. They are usually not presently slated to obtain again pay.
“At the encouragement of the Local, the MBTA has agreed to provide a return-to-work option for a group of less than 10 members who were terminated by the employer under the MBTA’s prior guidelines which had been upheld by the courts despite legal challenges lodged by the Local dating back to 2021,” the Boston Carmen’s Union stated in an announcement.
“Like other employers, the MBTA has recently modified related guidelines both for new hires and for previously hired workers. The courts had previously ruled against challenges by the Local and several other Locals with regard to the prior guidelines, which impacted the Local’s ability to secure earlier return-to-work options,” the assertion stated.
The MBTA didn’t touch upon whether or not workers from different unions could be supplied the identical alternative to return to work.
In September, MBTA Senior Director of Labor Relations Ahmad Barnes stated there was a 94% compliance price among the many T’s 6,374 workers.
Eighty workers, or about 1% of the workforce, had chosen to not get vaccinated in violation of the prior coverage, setting off a three-strike course of that finally ends in termination, Barnes stated.
Twenty-eight workers had been suspended, eight of whom had been bus drivers. He instructed the board that additional self-discipline for these workers had been paused, on account of ongoing negotiations across the vaccine mandate with the Carmen’s Union.
At the identical assembly, Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch sought a authorized opinion on whether or not the MBTA Board of Directors might vote to take away the vaccine mandate, citing the T’s continued hiring difficulties.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”