Providence Fire Department’s labor union urges RIDOH to reconsider vaccine mandate, could lose 10% of staff

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE)-The Providence Fire Department’s labor union is urging RIDOH to reconsider the vaccine mandate that is set to go into effect on October 1.

In a statement on the union’s Twitter page, the union said that the fire department could lose 10% of its workers if the mandate isn’t adjusted.

Should that scenario happen, firefighters would have to take on an additional workload, according to the statement.

“The fire department will be worse off than any day before the mandate,” the union said.

The mandate has gotten pushback from healthcare workers, state legislatures, and now the fire union.