LA Firefighter Union Sues Over City's COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate

LOS ANGELES, CA — The union representing Los Angeles City Firefighters is suing the city over it's employee COVID-19 vaccine mandate, in a bid to stop it from taking effect. In doing, so the firefighters join the union representing Los Angeles police officers, who are also seeking to block the mandate.

Both departments ended the summer with vaccination rates lower than the general population even though their ranks were hit hard by the pandemic. Roughly 70 percent of Los Angeles Fire Department employees are fully vaccinated, The Los Angeles Times reported. With the December deadline to be fully vaccinated looming, some firefighters have warned of major staffing shortages if firefighters are suspended or terminated for refusing to be vaccinated. However, according to analyses by the Times, the department has spent more than $22.5 million on overtime stemming from COVID-19 and the need to backfill the shifts of employees infected with the virus quarantining after an exposure.

However, the city's vaccine mandate is not the solution, according to the union.

In a lawsuit filed Monday seeking an immediate temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction preventing enforcement of the vaccine mandate, the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City Local 112 alleges that the city has bargained in bad faith.

"By emailing the proposal and claiming it is the last, best and final, the city deprived the union of its right to bargain by denying it the right to review and respond to the proposal," the suit states.

The city adopted an ordinance in August directing city employees to get vaccinated against the coronavirus unless they can demonstrate a medical or religious exemption. The City Council recently approved a plan that gave employees more time to get vaccinated.

A representative for the City Attorney's Office could not be immediately reached.

The union has filed a complaint with the Los Angeles City Employee Relations Board. Specifically, the union objects to a requirement that unvaccinated employees must submit to twice weekly COVID-19 testing and be tested by the city's chosen vendor, then reimburse the city at $65 per test.

The city's last, best and final proposal also provides that employees who do not pay for the testing will be fired, the suit states.

The suit seeks a preliminary injunction preventing enforcement of the vaccine mandate until the union's unfair practices charge before the ERB is resolved.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.