pjspin0331 t1_jef6kps wrote on March 31, 2023 at 3:53 PM

Reply to comment by theliontamer37 in SJC rules Mayor Wu had the authority to require municipal workers to get the COVID-19 vaccine - The Boston Globe by TouchDownBurrito

This is just it. There was already an existing memorandum of agreement between Local 718 and the mayors office made during the interim. Mayor Wu went against the existing MOA and then refused to meet with the union to discuss further, which prompted all the legal action to begin with. If there is an existing MOA, one of the two sides can’t just up and dissolve it when they feel like it. Thus making this a labor dispute and not really a CoViD dispute.

theliontamer37 t1_jef82dx wrote on March 31, 2023 at 4:03 PM

Exactly. It had little to do with the actual vaccine and more to do with the union saying we don’t want to set the precedent where mayors can just come in and set new rules without negotiation.

pjspin0331 t1_jeff981 wrote on March 31, 2023 at 4:49 PM

Precisely. It was an action made that circumvented an active MoA, thus also circumventing the main power of a union to collectively bargain for its members. If the mayor can just do what she/he wants, including violating an existing MoA, then that’s the end of public safety unions. What recourse would they have if not the right to collectively bargain?

When you don’t honor an existing MoA and then also refuse to meet to come to a mutual solution, then you are no longer acting in good faith and other means will become necessary. This is the real issue, not the CoViD vaccine mandate.