St. Paul Police Union Sues Over Vaccine Mandate

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- The St. Paul police union is suing the city over its vaccine mandate.

The St. Paul Police Federation has filed a civil lawsuit to block the city's mandate, which is scheduled to start Dec. 31.

The lawsuit alleges St. Paul city officials failed to meet and negotiate in good faith to discuss changing the policy. The union says they asked the city to allow testing and masking for unvaccinated officers, but the city denied the request.

The union and the city have been working on a contract negotiations since the start of the year.

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter announced the mandate, which requires all city employees to provide proof of vaccination or be barred from work, in October.

"We are not anti-vaccine, nor are we conspiracy theorists — we are reasonable and dedicated public servants who believe in personal choice," the federation said in a statement. "We estimate that approximately 20% of our officers are not vaccinated, which equates to over 100 dedicated cops who will be relieved of their duties. We are already down 80 officers in a year where we're experiencing record numbers of citizens being shot and homicides. We know that an inadequately staffed police force is a much greater danger to our community than 20% of our officers not being vaccinated."