Approximately 264 people, or 5 per cent of the city’s workforce, are set to be terminated on October 1, 2022 for violating the municipality’s vaccination policy. Photo credit: Twitter/City of Hamilton
There were more spectators than normal in the Hamilton City Hall Council Chamber during the Thursday, August 4 General Issues Committee meeting, as council members discussed the Hamilton city worker’s vaccine mandate policy yet again.
Some held Canadian flags and signs noting their opposition to the vaccine mandate.
And eventually, Councillor Brad Clark, who chairs the committee, had to clear those spectators out due to disruption.
The main purpose of the committee was for Lora Fontana, head of human resources at the City of Hamilton, to reveal the financial costs of following through with the city’s vaccine mandate. She revealed that firing workers would cost the city $2.8 million to $7.4 million due to severance packages entitled to unionized city employees who would face termination.
The city has also spent approximately $93,000 in legal costs so far.
Ward 7 Councillor Esther Pauls gave an impassioned speech against the mandate, noting that the city already has a staffing shortage and is approximately 250 workers short. Due to the vaccine policy, approximately 264 people, or 5 per cent of the city’s workforce, are set to be terminated on October 1, 2022.
The move will effectively mean a greater staff shortage.
Pauls said the province did not make vaccines mandatory for provincial workers and questioned why the City of Hamilton must make it mandatory.
She said that Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, Hamilton’s medical officer of health, and human resources at the City of Hamilton recommended not to fire workers, but council voted against that, instead choosing to impose the mandate.
On April 27, city council voted on whether to rescind the vaccination mandate altogether. Rescinding the mandate altogether is harder to pass as it requires two-thirds support in order to be scrapped. That vote failed 6-6 and the mandate stayed. The plan was to terminate unvaccinated city workers June 1, 2022.
Those in favour of keeping the mandate on the April 27 vote were: Fred Eisenberger, Maureen Wilson, Nrinder Nann, John-Paul Danko, Judi Partridge and Russ Powers.
Those in favour of scrapping the vaccination mandate altogether were: Esther Pauls, Maria Pearson, Tom Jackson, Sam Merulla, Jason Farr and Lloyd Ferguson.
Four councillors (Brad Clark, Terry Whitehead, Brenda Johnson, and Arlene VanderBeek) were absent from that vote.
But then on May 25, with the number of days ticking down towards the June 1 termination date, Councillor Esther Pauls brought forward a motion to simply amend the vaccination mandate and make the termination date October 1, 2022. Pauls, who is against the mandate, strategically brought forward the timeline amendment because amendments only require a majority vote to pass rather than the two-thirds council approval needed to scrap the mandate altogether.
Additionally, since council already voted on whether or not to scrap the mandate the only way a new vote could be held is if one of the six councillors who voted to keep the mandate in place decides to change their mind and trigger a re-vote. Thus, Pauls’ amendment motion was the only way to prevent unvaccinated employees from being terminated on June 1.
The motion to extend the termination date passed 11-3. In favour of extending the termination date to October 1 were: Nrinder Nann, Brenda Johnson, Judi Partridge, Sam Merulla, Brad Clark, Lloyd Ferguson, Terry Whitehead, Tom Jackson, Maria Pearson, and Arlene VanderBeek. Those in favour of continuing to terminate unvaccinated employees on June 1 were: Maureen Wilson, John-Paul Danko, and Russ Powers.
Whether or not the termination date will be further extended past October 1 remains to be seen.
Despite the vote back in April to keep the vaccine mandate and terminate unvaccinated employees, a staff report released in April from the municipal human resources department recommended that councillors should suspend the mandate and only consider implementing it if the COVID situation worsens.
The city also reportedly received counsel that the mandate would not hold up legally. Lora Fontana, head of human resources at the City of Hamilton, said that they do not think that courts and the arbitration process would support the city’s decision to keep the mandate since the city’s policy is no longer in line with the policy of the province. The province lifted mandatory masking and vaccine mandates a number of weeks ago.
“With those recent considerations from the province, it’s difficult to continue to implement our policy, particularly as it relates to the mandating of the vaccines,” Fontana said.
But a number of city councillors have disregarded that advice. Ward 8 Councillor John-Paul Danko is a staunch supporter of terminating the unvaccinated, saying back in April that those who do not get vaccinated are refusing to do so because of their own “selfish entitlement.”
The transit union ATU Local 107 plans to push for arbitration under Ontario’s Labour Relation Act. Approximately 40 transit workers are impacted by the policy. City staff have also said that there are close to ten unions that have filed grievances regarding the mandate.
It should be noted that the vote on April 27 and the vote on May 25 were only in regard to what to do with current city employees who are unvaccinated. There is a separate policy in place mandating that all new hires by the City of Hamilton be vaccinated. That policy remains in place and there has not been any Council debate on removing that requirement.
Note that the author of this article, Kevin Geenen, is running for Ward 5 City Council Hamilton (Gray Rd to Red Hill Parkway plus the Beach Strip). Based in Hamilton, Ontario, Kevin Geenen reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on social media. He is a regular contributor with The Hamilton Independent and has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. He is known for Hamilton Neighbourhood Watch crime updates and no-nonsense news graphics. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal from Governor General David Johnston. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
