Boston Police Union ‘Exploring’ Legal Options to Fight Mayor Wu’s Vaccine Mandate

A Boston police union is “exploring” legal avenues in response to Mayor Michelle Wu’s (D) recent citywide vaccine mandate, contending that the mandate violates an existing contract between the city and the union.

The Boston Police Superior Officers Federation (BPSOF) said in a statement published Friday that Wu’s announcement she made last week requiring coronavirus vaccinations for city employees beginning January 15 conflicts with a binding labor agreement that gives employees the alternative of weekly testing.

“Mayor Wu announced, without consulting with the Federation or bargaining, that all city employees must be vaccinated by January 15th or face termination,” the group stated. “The Federation strongly condemns the City and the Mayor’s blatant disregard for and violation of our legally binding contract.”

It added, “We are exploring our legal options to enforce this binding agreement and our rights to represent sworn supervisors.”

Read the full statement below:

The BPSOF represents 268 superior officers in law enforcement, including 23 captains, 56 lieutenants, and 189 sergeants, according to its website.

BPSOF called the mandate a “repudiation of negotiated agreements and bargaining obligations,” adding that the federation is “not anti-vaccination” but rather “pro-collective bargaining and public safety.”

“We fear Mayor Wu’s unfair labor practices and disregard of negotiated contracts will have real-word negative impacts. Our police department, already desperately understaffed, cannot afford to lose any more police officers willing to work a dangerous job,” BPSOF concluded.

Wu said in her announcement on December 20 that more than 90 percent of city workers had been vaccinated under the existing policy, which includes the coronavirus testing alternative to the vaccine. The Democrat mayor said she is now stripping city employees of the testing option, noting, “This is a response that is rooted in science and public health.”

In response to the opposition to the new mandate, a city spokesperson told the Boston Herald, “The previous Administration’s policy in no way limits the City’s authority to make this necessary update, although like the previous policy, the impacts will also be negotiated.” The spokesperson highlighted that the new policy “builds in appropriate time for compliance, and our expectation is that all of our city’s workforce will join us in protecting our communities by taking every action possible to end this pandemic.”

The mandate came in conjunction with a draconian move by Wu to require staff and patrons at all Boston indoor restaurants, fitness facilities, and entertainment venues show proof that they have received the vaccine, a mandate that falls in line with those being implemented in a handful of other Democrat-run cities, including New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles, as well as Washington, DC.

BPSOF is one in a string of first responder entities pushing back on Wu’s decision as it relates to city employees.

Boston First Responders United gathered Tuesday in West Roxbury to discuss its legal options and said it is preparing a lawsuit against the city, according to the Herald. The group wrote in an email about the event, “Tyranny is here on our doorstep and if we do not act now, in concert with ALL city workers, then we are sealing our own fate.”

AFSCME Council 93, “which represents about 2,000 city employees who work in a wide range of essential positions,” said it plans to pursue negotiations with the city related to the vaccine mandate because, it argued, “any policy related to vaccinations as a condition of employment must be negotiated with the union,” the Herald reported.

Lou Murray, an active member of the Massachusetts Republican Party and Catholic community, posted a thread of tweets last week that show city workers protesting the mandate. In one video, a pregnant police officer is seen challenging Wu directly on the vaccine, asking the mayor to claim personal responsibility for any adverse effects the woman experiences from the vaccine.

Powerful clips these pregnant mothers/#Boston police officers are so poisedas they directly confront @MayorWu over #NoVaxMandates #Courage #BackTheBlue #ProLife pic.twitter.com/5dhl0Ow5B8

— Louis L. Murray Jr (@LouisLMurrayJr1) December 23, 2021

Wu has also imposed mask requirements on all vaccinated and unvaccinated adults and children as young as three years old in indoor public spaces.

Wu’s mandates come as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns of an increase in cases of the omicron variant in the U.S. and as agency data charts a spike in coronavirus cases nationwide.

The New York Times’ coronavirus tracker shows surging coronavirus cases in Massachusetts, at a daily average of 7,647 cases. Hospitalizations and deaths due to coronavirus remain comparably low, at a daily average of 1,347 and 30, respectively.

The tracker also shows that 74 percent of the Massachusetts population is fully vaccinated. The top five states with the highest percentage of vaccinated individuals include the Bay State, as well as four other New England states: Vermont, Maine, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.

Write to Ashley Oliver at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @asholiver.

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