How city workers are being treated and exposed

Mayor Lyda Krewson’s directive to Stay at Home to deal with COVID-19 apparently does not apply to city government workers but should. City Hall and 1520 Market St. (which houses many government offices, including the Health Department, Citizens’ Service Bureau and SLATE) are now closed to public entrance. 

At this time SLATE is not able to provide job services, job training services, or funding due to the public not being able to access it. Yet the SLATE director/mayor is mandating city government SLATE workers to work on-site. Many of the SLATE contract workers and many of the state government workers also at SLATE are not being required to work on-site. 

Adding to the stress is that city employees understand that four city government employees have tested positive for the novel coronavirus and two city employees are self-quarantining at home because of possible exposure to the virus. Not knowing where or in what office those city employees work only adds to the stress. 

In this pandemic when the mayor talks about how much she cares for city workers, those words don’t match up with the actions of how employees are being treated and exposed.

James Sahaida

St. Louis