The city's teacher's unions are refusing to simply allow the mayor to fire the 15,000 or so teachers who have refused to be vaccinated for medical or religious reasons.

Teachers union chief Michael Mulgrew said Thursday that City Hall had vowed to remove all unvaccinated staffers from payroll without exception, including those with legitimate religious and medical objections, which Mulgrew said doesn't make sense. Because of his opposition, negotiations with the city have gone "to a very bad place".

"Our impact negotiations with the city have gone to a very bad place," Mulgrew told reporters after a Town Hall with members. "It's clear that the two sides are very very far apart when it comes to this vaccine mandate."

"The city's position is to remove them from payroll," he said. "That is disgusting as far as I'm concerned. And it does not follow the law. The law says that these accommodations and exemptions have to be in place."

Also, as we noted earlier,a recent study showed teachers do not face an increased risk of hospital admission from COVID.

While he has urged members to get the shot, Mulgrew claims the city's position is "unreasonably rigid", and not accommodating those with legitimate medical issues.

It's not fair to financially penalize them, Mulgrew said.

To try and put more pressure on City Hall,the teacher's union is seeking to work with other labor groups as they team up to leverage their combined influence.