WARMINGTON: Unvaccinated Toronto firefighters deserve compassion

They are ending vaccine mandates and COVID-19 protocols everywhere you look.

No more masks on airplanes or trains. No more proof of vaccination either. Non-vaccine-complying suspended cops are back on the job.

And restaurants, malls, subway, buses, borders, streetcars and schools all back to business as usual.

But if you are a Toronto firefighter, fired for not submitting to the mandatory vaccine order, the book that was thrown at you is still being hurled.

Thirteen holdouts recently thought they had won a ruling since an arbitrator said while it was “reasonable” for the city of Toronto to have a mandatory pandemic vaccination policy, it was “unreasonable” for the city to fire those not conforming.

They have been told they are out of luck.

A letter issued by the city said they are welcome to come back to work but only if they follow the city’s policy of having a minimum of two vaccine shots.

The letter says if they don’t comply, they will remain on unpaid leave with no benefits.

It means they are still effectively fired.

“The arbitrator upheld the City’s Mandatory Vaccination Policy as a reasonable exercise of the city’s management rights” explained city spokesperson Brad Ross. “The arbitrator found that the city was justified in requiring that a firefighter be vaccinated with two doses in order to report for work in TFS. The arbitrator also determined that the policy was reasonable at the time that it was introduced, and further found that the policy continues to be reasonable.”

Ross added “while the arbitrator said the discharge of firefighters who refused to be vaccinated was, in effect, automatic and accordingly, unreasonable, the policy still stands. The arbitrator did not order the city to automatically reinstate the firefighters to active duty, though they have now been reactivated as city of Toronto employees. Once a firefighter can demonstrate they are in compliance with the city vaccination policy (two doses), they will be reinstated to active duty.”

It’s clever word-parsing that borders on cruel when you consider how many other aspects of the pandemic are gone.

The Toronto Professional Fire Fighters Association has yet to return requests for comment. But terminated firefighter Andrew Mason said he will seek clarity if there are any more moves.

One thing that is clear is he and the others will not be getting any help from Mayor John Tory.

“Mayor Tory supports the City’s vaccination policy — a policy which the arbitrator in this case upheld as reasonable,” said his spokesperson Lawvin Hadisi. “The Mayor has always supported our first responders and is thankful that 99% of City employees, including first responders, got vaccinated. He believes this helped ensure we could maintain frontline services throughout the pandemic.”

However, she said, Tory also “supports senior City staff in the difficult decisions they have to make when it comes to protecting the health and safety of employees.

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Given these discussions on the response to the arbitration are ongoing, he’s not going to comment further.”

Like Toronto often does, it offers olive branches to the politically connected but nothing for those with no clout.

When a sports team needs something, it’s all ears.

But when there is a small minority on the chopping block, the pack pile on. I saw that this year when they city evicted souvenir shop owner Jenny Huang from her decades-long rental at St. Lawrence Market for a richer suitor.

Now it’s the same with these firefighters. The police officers in this situation are now back to work while their first-responder cousins are left outside.

Even though an arbitrator said it was “unreasonable” to let them go, there is no compassion or second chances.