NYC Vaccine Mandates Face Court Challenges

NEW YORK CITY — Unions scored a small victory in their fight against New York City's COVID-19 vaccine-or-test mandate for city workers.

A city judge Tuesday granted a temporary restraining order against the mandate.

The order by itself doesn't scuttle government leaders' plans to require vaccinations for city workers starting Sept. 27, but it opens the door to halt it completely.

"While temporarily restraining the city from enforcing the mandate, the judge’s order schedules a hearing on the lawsuit for Sept. 22, 2021, though it is possible the city will take further legal initiatives before that time," Harry Nespoli, chair of the Municipal Labor Committee, which filed the lawsuit, said in a statement.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said city officials are confident they'll prevail.

“It doesn’t change our approach,” he said. “It’s a very temporary action to get to the court where the actual case will be heard.”

City government worker unions have bristled against strict vaccination mandates, though their leaders stress they support members getting their shots.

They've also questioned Mayor Bill de Blasio's push to get city workers back into offices, especially as the highly contagious delta variant spreads.

Union leaders with District 37 filed an improper practice petition Tuesday to stop the return of 80,000 non-essential workers to city government offices.

"With the Delta variant and all the others, the landscape of COVID-19 is too uncertain to needlessly force people back to their desks," he said in a statement. "We will not let our members be used as guinea pigs. The City must allow non-essential works to work from home until we are certain it’s safe."