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COVID-19
The Associated Press

Judge halts vaccine mandate for St. Paul city employees

A COVID-19 vaccination card in someone's hands.
A health care worker displays a COVID-19 vaccine record card during a vaccine and health clinic at QueensCare Health Center in Los Angeles on Aug. 11.
Robyn Beck | AFP via Getty Images file

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A judge has temporarily halted a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for St. Paul city employees.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press reported that Ramsey County District Judge Robert Awsumb issued a temporary restraining order blocking the mandate on Thursday. The mandate was supposed to go into effect at the end of December.

The order comes after St. Paul police and firefighter unions as well as Tri-Council, a union that represents a wide swath of other city employees, challenged the mandate as an unfair labor practice. Awsumb said the restraining order will remain in place until the unions and the city determine whether they’re legally obligated to negotiate or go to arbitration. The judge set a scheduling conference for Jan. 20.

Mayor Melvin Carter announced the mandate in October. It differs from vaccine mandates already in place for government workers at St. Paul schools, Ramsey County, the city of Minneapolis and the state of Minnesota in that it doesn't allow workers to opt out of vaccination by agreeing to regular testing.

City attorneys maintain they have the right to establish the policy, don't have to negotiate over it and they consulted with the unions before enacting it.