A key LIRR union official warned Monday that some Metropolitan Transportation Authority workers would sooner quit than get vaccinated against COVID-19.
At a meeting of the MTA’s safety committee, chief safety officer Patrick Warren said that despite the agency last month announcing it would require all employees to be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing, just 58% of the MTA’s 68,000 workers had reported being inoculated against the coronavirus as of last week.
Among Long Island Rail Road workers, the vaccination rate is 57% — well below the 65% rate at sister MTA railroad Metro-North, but above the 55% of vaccinated workers at city subways and buses, according to the MTA.
Vincent Tessitore Jr., the LIRR union representative on the MTA Board, warned against pushing too hard for compliance from workers, including many who feel “threatened” by the mandate. He advised keeping weekly COVID-19 testing for unvaccinated workers voluntary for now, and understanding that some workers simply “do not want to be vaccinated.”
“We have to be careful, because we’re receiving plenty of feedback that they would leave the job if it came to that,” Tessitore Jr. said. “We have to recognize what our … memberships’ beliefs are in the field. And we don’t want to lose them.”
MTA officials noted they cannot be sure of the vaccination rate of their workforce, because some employees may have been vaccinated but had not disclosed that to the agency.
The agency originally said that, beginning on Labor Day, employees who are not vaccinated would have to undergo weekly COVID-19 testing. After some pushback from union officials, it delayed enforcing the mandate to next month.
“We’re making progress — maybe not as fast as we want, but we are making significant progress. And I know that we can get there,” new MTA acting chairman and chief executive officer Janno Lieber said.
MTA Board member Neal Zuckerman called the vaccination rate a “disservice” to riders, including young school children ineligible for the vaccines.
“It’s just not acceptable that we’re exposing those kids to workers that are unvaccinated,” Zuckerman said.
About 17 MTA workers are testing positive each day for COVID-19, according to Warren. About 75% of new cases are among unvaccinated employees. More than 170 MTA employees have died from the coronavirus, agency officials have said.
Other pandemic-era metrics provided better news for the MTA. LIRR president Phillip Eng said that on Friday, ridership hit 50% of pre-COVID-19 levels for the first time since the pandemic began. MTA Bridges and Tunnels also saw 1 million crossings on the Friday before Labor Day. The last time they hit that mark was in October 2019.
The rate of LIRR riders complying with the agency’s face mask requirement is back up to 92%, after dropping to 87% in August, the MTA said. Despite the improving numbers, Warren announced that the MTA will be taking “a more aggressive” approach to enforcing its mask mandate, including through increased police presence onboard LIRR trains.
“They’ll be walking through the train. And for those who do not comply, they will be handing out summons,” Warren said.
