A month after its October deadline, Los Angeles’ unvaccinated city workers are still not being tested for COVID-19. Advocates for testing see this delay putting the public and other city workers at risk for contracting COVID-19.
The City set out its vaccine mandate framework in mid October. It required unvaccinated employees to undergo twice-weekly tests, at the employees’ own expense and on the employees’ own time, through a city provider.
The unvaccinated employees were required to register with the testing contractor, called PPS Health, Inc. and Bluestone Safe, and had $260 deducted from their bi-monthly paychecks to fund the tests.
The unions that represent most city workers have objected to the mandatory testing protocol and paycheck deductions, which were imposed by the city after it notified an Employee Relations Board in late October that it had reached an impasse in negotiations with the unions, specifically with making a Covid-19 vaccination a condition of employment. The Employee Relations Board is an arm of city government designed to mediate labor disputes.
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