How Many State, Local Workers Fired over Vaccine Mandate?
On the surface, it may appear the numbers are small, but it depends upon where the workers were employed.
According to Washington state data and reports from MyNorthwest.com, the hardest-hit area of the state was the Department of Transportation, then the Washington State Patrol.
The state employs a total of 119,000 or so workers, that's for the 2019-2021 biennium and includes sub-contractors. 62,000 fell under the vaccine mandate. Of those, 1,887 were terminated. That amounts to just over 3 percent of the mandated workforce.
WILL VACCINE FIRINGS AFFECT STATE HIGHWAYS?
Of 6,814 total DOT employees, 402 were fired. That's just over six percent of their workforce. However, some areas could be harder hit. For example, the entire work crew at the Goldendale DOT station-site walked off the job, leaving no one to do maintenance or clear roads in winter.
The state ferry system was also hard hit, with a high percentage of workers leaving, forcing DOT officials to, at least for now, condense and cancel some runs.
The WSP lost 127, including 74 troopers. Five were said to be from the Tri-Cities-southeastern Washington region.
LOCAL ENTITIES APPEAR TO HAVE BEEN RELATIVELY UNTOUCHED
Many of the area firefighters who were not vaccinated were granted exemptions, in the Tri-Cities, according to reports. Most of the area medical providers say workers were either vaccinated or received exemptions.
Also, many healthcare workers chose to get vaccinated well before the mandate was ever announced, due to the nature of their work.
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