Workforce down to a few vaccination shot holdouts
After a fierce effort to finesse San Jose’s strict COVID-19 vaccination mandate — led by a police union that warned that more than 100 cops were ready to quit over it — only six city employees have chosen to forfeit a week of pay for the option to stay unvaccinated.
All other city employees, including rank-and-file police officers, have either submitted proof of vaccination, are in the process of getting fully vaccinated or have been awarded a religious or medical exemption, according to San Jose Human Resource Director Jennifer Schembri.
As of Nov. 4, 95% of all city employees had submitted proof that they are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, Schembri said.
“I think city employees recognize the importance of our vaccination policy and keeping our community safe,” she said, “and I believe that is how we got to where we are.”
Although 354 of the city’s 7,105 workers have not yet received shots or reported their vaccination status, all but six have pending or approved exemptions for medical or religious reasons or are making progress toward becoming fully inoculated, according to city spokesperson Carolina Camarena.
The city’s human resources department has sent out disciplinary notices to the six holdouts, informing them that they’re facing a 40-hour unpaid suspension for failing to abide by the vaccination order. Each employee will be allowed a hearing in front of city officials and then have one week to make a vaccination appointment or apply for an exemption before they’ll be required to serve their suspension.
Schembri wouldn’t say what departments the six city employees work in and whether any of them were police officers, citing personnel privacy.
A day before San Jose’s vaccination mandate went into effect on Oct. 1, city officials announced a deal that they were giving all employees a one-week grace period to make a vaccination appointment or request a medical or religious exemption. Those who receive an exemption or are in the process of getting fully vaccinated must get tested twice a week.
That agreement, which the police union helped forge, also gave those who opted not to get vaccinated or were not exempted the means to avoid termination if they got a COVID-19 test twice a week, though they would have to serve the equivalent of a week-long unpaid suspension first.
Yet, very few employees opted to take this route.
Within the police department, 1,052 of the 1,146 sworn officers — or 92% of the force — are fully vaccinated. That number has risen by 100 over the past month, as more officers have submitted proof of vaccination.
Tom Saggau, the spokesperson for the San Jose Police Officers’ Association, said the latest figures are an indication that the city was able to find a “reasonable path forward” without compromising city services and police response.
“Six citywide — I think that’s a pretty good indication that what we (the Police Officers’ Association) took the lead on was effective,” Saggau said. “Look at some of the turmoil happening right now in other jurisdictions across the country. That could have been avoided if some of them had come to the table and found a path forward with a shared goal of preserving public safety.
“There’s clearly a path and it is working fairly well here in San Jose.”
Law enforcement agencies across the country have been pushing back on COVID-19 vaccination mandates for months. In Los Angeles, the union representing sworn police officers has sued the city over the way it rolled out a vaccination mandate. Meanwhile, in Chicago, a highly-publicized battle between the city and police department over the validity of its vaccine mandate wages on. Last week, a judge suspended a Dec. 31 deadline for the city’s police officers to be vaccinated.
For the six San Jose employees subject to a week of unpaid leave, the cost of refusing to get vaccinated or obtaining an exemption will become more severe in the coming months. Under the city’s vaccination order, those who remain unvaccinated after Dec. 31 are likely to face further disciplinary action, which could include additional unpaid leave or termination.
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said he’s “not rushing to any conclusions yet” and is instead focused on getting more employees vaccinated.
“Our workforce has demonstrated that they get it overwhelmingly, the importance of getting vaccinated, and that makes for a safer workforce and safer community,” he said. “Obviously we’ve still got some work to do and it’s likely that we’ll see that sanctions will be applied increasingly in the weeks ahead.”