Professional Employees Association

Please see information available about employee rights related to the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 Employee Notification Procedures

COVID-19 Scenarios and Benefits Available

Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) Employee Rights

Information about the memorandum of agreement between the City of Saint Paul and various unions is available:

Memorandum of Agreement (on City of Saint Paul website)

Adopted City County resolution for the COVID-19 Memorandum of Agreement

This was sent out via email from Catherine Penkert, Director of Libraries:

Hi all,
Please see the below update that applies to all employees affected by the facility closures:

“The City of Saint Paul understands that there were specific employees in the Department of Parks & Recreation and the Saint Paul Public Library that were sent home due to facility closures based on the risk of COVID-19 on March 18th, 2020. 

It is the decision of the City that for those employees that were working or scheduled to work on the day that facilities were closed, they will receive their normal full pay. For the remaining scheduled days that employees of Parks and Libraries were unable to work while their facilities were closed during Pay Period 8, employees will be paid for their scheduled shifts. 

This decision is applicable only to Parks and Libraries staff who were affected by facility closures during the period of March 18th through March 24th, 2020. This sets no precedent for any possible future facility closures.”

Hello PEA Members,

The Executive Board, our legal counsel and myself are trying to update you on what we know about the effects the pandemic is having on our City, Schools and jobs.  The most accurate update is that things are changing daily and planning is continuous.  

PEA initiated formal contact with the City nearly two weeks ago to demand answers for our members.  The City responded with a voicemail at the end of the day March 12^th stating that they were preparing answers to FAQs. The following day, on Friday the 13^th, PEA sat in on the first conference call with City management where very little information was provided.  Early the next week PEA returned to the City for clarification. In the evening before it occurred, Labor Relations notified PEA in a voicemail that the Park & Recreation department and Libraries would be closing facilities to public and employees.  Nobody had any advanced warning of this.

The following day PEA sat in on a citywide teleconference where the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was discussed (for details of the MOA, refer to PEA’s March 19^th posting on this website). The next day PEA received and reviewed the draft of the MOA, which included 1) 80 hours Emergency Pandemic Leave (EPL), 2) accrual rights during the use of such EPL and 3) extended Earned Safe & Sick Time with an equivalent of six (6) days of negative pay (not yet earned).  Although it was not perfect, PEA’s Executive Board understood that by refusing to sign and stall for more coverage we would jeopardize the short-term benefits described above for all our City members.  The vote to sign the MOA was unanimous.  Every other union in the City also signed the MOA by this morning.

Matters are still being addressed for members in Parks and Libraries.  PEA has requested a “meet and confer” with City Labor Relations and the City agreed.  A date has not yet been established.

Thanks to School members and their patience.  As of now, the Superintendent’s all-school teleconference laid out the Schools intention in the short term to keep the employees working as far as we know.  Please contact PEA stewards if there are any separations from work for a PEA member. The Governor also put in a mandate that every school must have a distance-learning plan, provide food service availability and address daycare concerns.  We will attempt to get more detail for School members in the next posting.

Thank you for your patience and we will continue to provide you updates as things continue to progress. 

Be well and Stay Safe.

Regina Etoll
PEA President 

Hello PEA, 

Andrea Turner expressed in her letter to all City employees today, “Directors are working closely with the office of human resources and the Mayors office to reassign employees to perform needed City services for our residents.” We think this provides an opportunity for our out of work members. 

At this point we don’t have any details, we don’t know how many opportunities might be available, but best case scenario, PEA members who are willing to do tasks outside of their typical job duties would have the opportunity to continue working and preserve their leave balances.
We would like to create a list of members that we can present to labor relations early next week. If you are interested please contact your steward and provide them your contact information.

Stewards: Please communicate this with your members and keep track of who is willing to work in other areas. We will be contacting you for this information. 

Thank you,

Justine Roe
PEA Vice President 

To City PEA Members:

PEA is striving to get you accurate, timely information so as to provide a bit of certainty in these very uncertain circumstances.  There remain a lot of details and unanswered questions, but from today’s conference call between City Management and approximately 25 unions here is what we’ve learned.

The City leaders are mindful of what steps the Governor’s administration has taken and they’ve also followed a timeline and approach that Ramsey County has invoked. Nevertheless, the City is dramatically different in that the workforce payroll takes up a very significant portion of the City’s available budget, unlike the State.

But Deputy Mayor Jaime Tincher repeated the City leaders’ desire to keep as much of our workforce working as possible. They also want to partner with the unions and their members in a collaborative approach to face these challenges ahead.

Over the next month we can expect matters affecting your earnings to follow this:

• Starting March 18^th (yesterday) up to March 28^th, which ends this payroll period, employees who are unable to work can use any accrued leave for compensation.  This would include comp time, sick time and vacation time. Perhaps in that order is best, but every employee’s situation may differ.
• If during this time frame you are without any accrued leave, the employee is allowed to use up to 80 hours of Earned Safe & Sick Time (ESST).  If that is unavailable, employees can go “in the negative” against future ESST accrual.
• On March 28^th the City will make available 80 hours of Emergency Paid Pandemic Leave for that payroll period (2 weeks). Prorated for part-timers.
• On April 4^th, City officials will make layoff decisions and notices will be sent according to the needs and capabilities of the City.
• On April 11^th, the Paid Pandemic Leave amounts will be exhausted, but employees with accrued leave remaining may use that.  
• On April 18^th, if the layoff decisions are still necessary, they will take effect.

Social distancing will remain a constant in anything and everything our members are asked to do.  Flexibility and cooperation are paramount over the next month. The City is looking at reassignments, partnering with the St. Paul schools to meet their demands and other creative approaches to keep operations moving – safely.

The City leadership and Human Resources is concerned about the flood of questions expected.  Please consider contacting your PEA steward or PEA leadership with your questions. We will try to get unified answers that can be shared broadly.

Regina Etoll

PEA President

Due to the recent news and health concerns surrounding COVID-19 PEA is canceling the April 8^th General Membership Meeting.  There will be conversation and future communication about rescheduling in the coming months.

Additionally, PEA has reached out to the proper people and has asked for clarification/guidance on procedures should departments, events, etc. be shut down or if folks need to stay home, get sent home, etc. We are hopeful that the powers that be will send something out with this information to all employees; however, PEA will keep you all updated on what information we receive.

Thank you and stay well,

Regina Etoll

PEA President

Download the latest edition of Professional View, the PEA Newsletter.
In this issue, find :

• Information on our new health benefits and 121 Benefits
• Updates from the City and School Negotiations Chairs
• Minutes of the Fall 2019 meeting
• An invitation for everyone to attend the biannual meeting and dinner at Joseph’s Grill on April 8

The October – December 2019 issue of Professional View, the PEA quarterly newsletter, is now available.

Contents include: The Corner by Mike Wilde, FAQ about PEA, SPPS contract negotiations update, 2020 calendar of events, and the latest contact information for stewards and executive committee members.

The PEA General Membership meeting is scheduled for October 3, 2019, at Mancini’s.

Registration starts at 5:30 p.m. with dinner at 6:00 p.m. and the meeting at 7:00 p.m. Find the agenda on page 3 of the July – September 2019 newsletter.

RSVP by September 27.

More information…