September 27, 2021 astatine 1:19 pm
BOSTON (CBS) – The State Police Association of Massachusetts (SPAM) said dozens of troopers person submitted their resignation papers arsenic a effect of the state’s COVID vaccine mandate.
The authorities is requiring each enforcement section employees to amusement impervious of vaccination by October 17, oregon hazard losing their jobs.
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About 20% of State Police employees are not vaccinated, the union’s lawyer said.
Last week, a justice denied a petition from the State Police national to enactment a clasp connected Baker’s vaccine mandate for troopers.
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The national released a connection pursuing the judge’s decision.
Throughout COVID, we person been connected the beforehand lines protecting the citizens of Massachusetts and beyond. Simply put, each we are asking for are the aforesaid basal accommodations that countless different departments person provided to their archetypal responders, and to dainty a COVID related unwellness arsenic a enactment of work injury.
To date, dozens of troopers person already submitted their resignation paperwork, immoderate of whom program to instrumentality to different departments offering tenable alternatives specified arsenic disguise wearing and regular testing. The State Police are already critically abbreviated staffed and acknowledged this by the unprecedented moves which took troopers from specialty units that analyse homicides, terrorism, machine crimes, arsons, gangs, narcotics, and quality trafficking, and returned them to uniformed patrol.
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The union, which represents 1,800 members, argued that the authorities needed to bargain with workers earlier implementing the mandate.