FDNY EMS Local 2507 President Oren Barzilay released a statement today on behalf of the union on the ongoing delay in reinstating City workers who were fired under the 2021 COVID-19 vaccine mandate:
“It is disgraceful that the dedicated and hardworking first responders and other municipal workers cannot yet resume their careers, following the total repeal of New York City’s COVID vaccine mandate. Despite promises of reinstatement from the mayor’s office before the end of 2025, people were duped into believing the right thing was being done by city government. Once more, the bureaucracy is disregarding the experience of this group of workers, toying with their ability to feed their families and protect the public. Reinstatement for these workers must be prioritized, and we hope our new mayor does the legal and humane thing and letting these city workers return to their jobs.”
Local 2507 represents uniformed EMTs, paramedics, and fire inspectors employed by the New York City Fire Department (FDNY).
Outgoing NYC mayor Eric Adams announced the reinstatement offer the day after Election Day, setting a December 5, 2025 deadline for former City employees to contact their former agencies to request reinstatement.
A rule change is required to reinstate former competitive and labor class NYC public sector employees, including EMS workers. While the rule amendment was put forward by the NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) under the Adams administration in November, it was not considered for approval as expected at the December meeting of the New York State Civil Service Commission.
The schedule for the Commission’s January meeting this Wednesday also does not include the rule amendment. The Commission meets monthly.
In a related issue, many teachers who requested reinstatement under the offer and met the December 5 deadline to submit their request are reporting that they have received no response beyond an autoreply indicating that their email was received.
Because public school teaching positions are noncompetitive, NYC Public Schools does not require the rule change to reinstate teachers who were fired under the 2021 Department of Education vaccine mandate. (Noncompetitive positions are a class of civil service jobs that do not require applicants to pass a competitive exam to be hired.)
Neither NYC Public Schools administrators nor United Federation of Teachers officials have responded to multiple requests for comments and information about how the reinstatement process will proceed.
More on the reinstatement offer and rule change:
New York Worker Reinstatement Rule Change Not Scheduled for January Vote
After a rule change required for reinstating former competitive and labor class NYC public sector employees failed to be considered as expected at the December meeting of the New York State Civil Service Commission meeting, affected workers were left in the dark about how, when, or if the reinstatement process will go forward.
Reinstatement Rule Change Vote by New York State Civil Service Commission Delayed
Some of the New York City municipal workers who were fired under the City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate and are seeking reinstatement saw another setback today when a rules change required for their reinstatements failed to appear on the agenda for this month’s New York State Civil Service Commission meeting.
Adams Offers Reinstatement for Fired City Workers, but Questions on Details Remain
NOTE: I will be adding updates to this article as new information about the reinstatement offer becomes available.
They were playing games. I've worked at companies where I was able to come back. Some employers had black lists though and wouldn't rehire former employees. I always wondered how that was legal in employment law.
If they are still playing this game now at the time when COVID is basically gone, they're looking pretty incompetent and/or malevolent.