Acting director of HR cites challenges of keeping respectful environment after disputes over vaccines
Having dismissed nearly 90 workers last year because of their vaccination status, the City of Windsor is bringing back two-thirds.
In January 2022, 84 employees were fired for refusing to have the COVID-19 vaccine or disclose their status, according to the CBC.
And in December, 67 were asked back to work.
The city has been working closely with the unions in offering staff members their jobs back since Windsor lifted its COVID-19 vaccine mandate in November, according to Dana Paladino, acting executive director of human resources.
In most cases, the collective agreement allows the returning workers to bump out the person who has filled their position, says the CBC, and anyone who is bumped will have an opportunity to find an alternative position.
Now, the municipality is focused on keeping a respectful environment.
"It's definitely potentially a challenge, depending on the environment they are coming back to,” said Paladino.
“We've made it very clear from the outset... we have a respectful workplace policy that we expect everyone to abide by — both the returning employee as well as the existing employees that are now working with those individuals.”
What's past is past, she said, according to the CBC, “and there won't be any tolerance for any sort of harassment from any party going forward."
Some of those being asked back are part of an ongoing lawsuit against the City of Windsor filed last August.
Employees are still looking for compensation from the city for the time that people spent unemployed without EI, according to their lawyer, Courtney Betty, in the CBC.
"It's also critical that individuals also be compensated, for some individuals [that's] 18 months of their lives that they not only lost earnings, may have lost their mortgage, families. It's been very destructive for these individuals.”
In November, The TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) announced it would lift its mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy. In January 2022, 354 workers were fired after they failed to meet the requirement.
