Tucson police union sues city to stop employee vaccine mandate | Local news

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The union wants the court to declare the vaccination mandate illegal and ask the city to “honor its contractual obligations,” the lawsuit said.

On August 4, the Association of Police Officers partnered with two other city workers’ unions – the Tucson Fire Fighters Association and The Communication Workers of America Local # 7026 – to write a letter to Ortega. Working Conditions ”and not Ortega’s management law.

The unions asked to negotiate with the city prior to the implementation of the mandate, but the complaint stated that this never happened.

Much of the lawsuit depends on this argument: The city broke its contract with the police union “by unilaterally enacting the regulation without first negotiating in good faith the change in working conditions”.

In Ortega’s memo to the mayor and council outlining the mandate, the city director said the city was “the legal duty to provide and maintain a safe and healthy workplace for its employees”.

“The City of Tucson, as an employer, can lawfully force its employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and / or have regular tests to determine if COVID-19 infection are performed, subject to statutory exceptions and / or precautions,” Ortega said . wrote. The provisions exempting certain employees with illnesses and sincere religious beliefs from the mandate were included in the ordinance.

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