Public Employee Press

Swine flu shots are NOT mandatory

Victories for members as gov suspends overly rigid regs and state orders agencies to provide better breathing protection

Vaccinations for swine flu — the H1N1 virus — and seasonal flu are no longer mandatory for Health and Hospitals Corp. employees. And management in the Health Dept. and other agencies must provide N95 respirators — not just surgical masks — to workers who deal with members of the public with confirmed or suspected HIN1 infections.

These two important victories for union members resulted from a campaign waged by the DC 37 Safety and Health Dept. and other activists against State Health Dept. regulations that originally ordered health-care workers to get the shots by Nov. 30.

DC 37 supports influenza vaccinations as part of a comprehensive program to protect workers against infection, but the union strongly opposed making the shots a condition of employment.

The effort by the unions, recommendations against the mandatory shots from the federal Centers for Disease Control and an Oct. 16 State Supreme Court restraining order built pressure for the policy change, and Gov. David Paterson suspended the mandatory policy on Oct. 22.

HHC offers free H1N1 shots for employees

The original policy would have affected hundreds of thousands of hospital workers and volunteers. It was widely interpreted to mean that management could fire any employee who did not comply.

HHC President Alan Aviles notified employees Oct. 27 that the state requirement was suspended, and he urged employees to get the shots. With vaccination carts visiting HHC work areas, it appeared to many members that the shots were still mandatory, said Local 420 President Carmen Charles. She urged HHC to do a better job of informing workers of the policy change. H1N1 shots are free for HHC employees at HHC facilities.

The revised guidelines for respiratory protection brought New York State into conformity with the CDC’s recommendations that require the N95 respirators.

The city and state Health Departments had claimed that surgical masks were adequate, but studies have shown that they do not adequately protect against flu transmission, while the N95 respirators provide a higher level of protection for health-care workers.

Fact sheets on the swine flu are available from the DC 37 Safety and Health Dept. and online at www.dc37.net. “H1N1 Influenza: What Workers Need to Know” deals with frequently asked questions, and separate fact sheets are available for school, health-care and home-care workers.