‘There is some urgency for us to move forward now, as the fourth wave is upon us’
Oakville town council has unanimously voted to mandate vaccination for its municipal workers, as well as council members.
However, two municipal workers’ unions representing workers of the Town of Oakville, and members of the public, object to the new policy.
“There is some urgency for us to move forward now, as the fourth wave is upon us, in order to make sure we are taking advantage of all protections that are available,” Oakville’s chief administrative officer, Jane Clohecy, said in council Sept. 13.
The mandate applies to all municipal employees. That includes full-time staff, part-time staff, students, temporary staff, contract staff, consultants, board members, tenants and leaseholders in municipal facilities, visitors accessing town facilities and members of council.
All staff are to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 31. Prior to that, staff will be required to inform the human resources department of their vaccination status by Monday, Sept. 20, with some exemptions under medical grounds such as allergies and cardiac-related health concerns. Rapid antigen testing will be available until Oct. 31 as well.
Non-compliant employees may be placed on unpaid leave, which could go as far as termination. Time off will be made available so that they may get the vaccine.
The meeting got tense during the public delegation phase. President of CUPE 1329 Chris Clapham, representing inside workers for the Town of Oakville, objected to some of the provisions and deadlines of the new policy.
“I would like to start out by saying that 1329, and CUPE, support a workplace vaccination policy,” Clapham began. But then he added: “However, we just do not support this one as it is in front of you.”
He took issue with the timetable for vaccination as put out by the municipality. He felt that Monday, Sept. 20 was not enough time to educate workers, retrieve documents and file for accommodation. He also asked council to “strongly consider” extending the rapid testing availability indefinitely.
“We have seen that the City of Burlington has approved a policy that includes rapid testing up until the end of November,” Clapham added.
Ward 1 Councillor Sean O’Meara asked Clapham, “Do you feel you will be able to put a firm date on a time when you feel you will have enough time to educate all of your members? And at the time, if they chose not to get the vaccine, you had done everything you could? And at the point that mandatory vaccine would be appropriate because you had the time allowed?”
Clapham responded: “I’m not going to support a policy that doesn’t potentially get the option of rapid testing at this time.” He said he was happy to explore “other options.”
President of CUPE 136 Peter Knafelc, representing the outside municipal employees, felt that his team was not consulted on the new policy. “HR told us what might be coming down the pike, but we weren’t really asked to be part of the decision-making process,” Knafelc said.
He also wanted further exploration of accommodation on religious grounds, as well as being allowed to opt out and instead implement indefinite rapid antigen testing. Councillor O’Meara responded: “Is there a deadline that you would give your own union members?”
“That is not my job to tell them when or how they should get vaccinated. That’s not my personal business,” Knafelc responded.
Members of the public also expressed their displeasure with council. Katherine Lesiuk, who identified herself as an electrical engineer and works for 3M, said that the new mandate is violating consent and constitutes an “assault on a person.”
O’Meara shot back at some of the delegations. “One common theme I did not hear from a single delegate today is ‘What about the other people in our society?’ It was ‘me me me and my rights and my rights and my rights.’ And not a single mention was ‘What’s my duty to my next door neighbour?’”
mansoor Tanweer 
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