The City of Greater Sudbury’s vaccination policy was lifted on May 1.
City employees received news of the policy’s suspension in a letter by CUPE Local 4705 president Bryan Keith, which was also posted on their Facebook page.
In the letter, dated April 28, it’s noted the change in policy “is news to us as it is to you.”
“We are aware of the confusion, frustration and ramifications this has on our members and will be gathering as many details as we can,” according to the letter. “Please allow us some time to determine what this means moving forward as, at this time, we have no additional information to provide.”
The letter concludes by stating that outstanding grievances related to the city’s vaccination policy would be resolved “in due course through the grievance process,” and that each affected member would be contacted.
City Corporate Services general manager Kevin Fowke told Sudbury.com this week that their decision to lift the city’s vaccination policy came in direct response to Public Health Sudbury & Districts pushing the COVID-19 risk index to “inactive” in mid-April.
“It essentially signals the risk of extreme illness from the virus has decreased over time,” he said. “The decision to suspend it is linked, as it always has been, with the best public health advice.”
Of the 51 city employees who lost their jobs as a result of their declining to adhere to the city’s vaccination policy by refusing COVID-19 vaccines, 50 were unionized and one was non-union.
Of the 50 unionized employees, Fowke said 14 didn’t challenge the city’s decision to terminate their employment and are believed to have moved on. The one non-union member is also believed to have moved on.
As for the balance of 36 former employees, Fowke said they won’t automatically be welcomed back.
“They’re unionized employees ... and so we’ll work through the grievance process to settle those out on a case-by-case basis,” he said.
“We’ll work with our union partners on those cases, and utilize the procedures we have in place in the collective bargaining agreements for that discussion.”
It’s been almost two years since the vaccination policy came into play, he said, adding their jobs have been filled in some cases, and some of them might face training requirements before being brought back on board. It’s also possible some of the 36 former employees who fought their terminations might have found jobs elsewhere.
“It’ll just be a matter of settling grievances with them, and potentially some reinstatements once we’re certain that there’s vacancies that exist and people are trained up and re-trained to be able to do the work.”
The City of Greater Sudbury’s vaccine policy was released in September 2021, at which time the city warned that all employees needed to disclose their vaccine status by the end of the month and become fully vaccinated with an accepted COVID-19 vaccine by Nov. 15. The policy applied to all city employees, students, members of council and volunteers at city facilities or workplaces.
In a media release issued at the time, the city noted that “reasonable accommodation will be provided to those employees with a valid Human Rights Code-based exemption for medical or religious reasons,” pending their approval with appropriate documentation.
By the time the policy came into play on Nov. 15, 2021, the city reported that 94 per cent of the approximately 3,000 municipal employees were fully vaccinated, leaving 139 who were not.
Leave was initially granted for the unvaccinated employees until such time as they received subsequent shots, with 51 employees ending up losing their jobs. One person received an exemption on human rights-related religious grounds. Affected employees were from across various departments, and 21 were volunteer firefighters.
Earlier this year, the city was named in a class-action lawsuit opposing vaccine mandates, as one of 72 Ontario municipalities, school boards and municipal organizations included. It claims vaccine mandates resulting in the unvaccinated losing their jobs were “unconstitutional.”
Former City of Greater Sudbury employee Tracy Peura is part of the class-action lawsuit, which resulted in the city’s inclusion. Sudbury.com reached out to Peura by phone and Facebook messenger, but the only response she offered consisted of questions asking what proof Sudbury.com had that she was included in the class-action lawsuit (her name is included in a court document).
The federal government also had a mandate in place requiring their employees be vaccinated against COVID-19, which came into effect on Oct. 6, 2021. They suspended their policy on June 20, 2022. At the time, those federal employees on administrative leave without pay due to the policy were able to resume regular work duties with pay. As of May 30, 2022, 2,108 federal employees (less than two per cent of the total) were on administrative leave without pay.
Sudbury.com reached out to Keith for comment through the CUPE Local 4705 office on Tuesday, but have not received a response.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.