City of Hamilton drops proof of vaccination requirement for current staff, will not fire those unvaccinated

City employees are no longer required to provide proof of vaccination or take rapid testing, the city said in a release after council voted in favour of the change. 

City council passed the decision Friday by a vote of 9-4.

The vote "suspends the provision within the policy that would see unvaccinated employees terminated as of September 20, 2022," the city said.

According to the release, the change is effective immediately and applies to all city employees, including full-time, part-time, volunteers, etc. However, it will not apply for future city employees or new hires, who will need to provide proof.

Mayor Fred Eisenberger was among the four who voted to keep the vaccination policy as it was. 

"I will resist the temptation to speak to this," Eisenberger said during Friday's meeting. "My vote will indicate my position on it. It's been well-known."

The decision comes days after Amalgamated Transit Union Local 107, the union representing transit workers, criticized city council for maintaining its mandatory vaccine policy.

The policy had been postponed by the city once already just days before the original May 31 deadline to get two shots of the COVID-19 vaccine, pushing the deadline into the fall. 

A recent report by city staff presented at a general issues committee meeting on Aug. 4 said as of July 20, there were 234 unvaccinated employees doing ongoing rapid tests and 30 who were on unpaid leave because they were unvaccinated.

The report also said if the policy had been implemented, 134 workers would have been fired in the fall and 130 would have been on indefinite unpaid leaves of absence. Termination arbitrations could have cost the city between $2,793,810.72 and $7,386,737.99, the report said. 

Hamilton's decision follows Burlington's repeal of its policy in March. Toronto already implemented its policy which had a Jan. 2 deadline, after which 461 employees were terminated. 

How they voted

In favour of reconsidering the policy that required city employees to get two shots:

Maureen Wilson (Ward 1), Jason Farr (Ward 2), Nrinder Nann (Ward 3), Tom Jackson (Ward 6), Esther Pauls (Ward 7), Brad Clark (Ward 9), Maria Pearson (Ward 10), Lloyd Ferguson (Ward 12), Arlene VanderBeek (Ward 13).

Who was opposed:

Mayor Fred Eisenberger, Russ Powers (Ward 5), John-Paul Danko (Ward 8) and Judi Partridge (Ward 15).

Absent: 

Sam Merulla (Ward 4), Brenda Johnson (Ward 11) and Terry Whitehead (Ward 14).