Chicago Mayor Lightfoot and Police Union clash over warning of ‘consequences’ for unvaccinated municipal workers

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Friday vowed there would be “consequences” for all city workers not fully immunized by Oct. 15, reports said as the city continued negotiations with trade unions.

Lightfoot and the Fraternal Order of the Police disagreed over whether its demand affected its members, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The union said in a statement that the deadline would only apply to coronavirus testing and that no one’s salary would be affected, adding that self-declaration of vaccination status was “voluntary.”

But Lightfoot, a Democrat, denied there was leeway for union members.

“Every employee in the city of Chicago should be vaccinated,” she said at a press conference Friday, according to FOX 32 in Chicago. “I didn’t get the full reading of today’s meeting, but it’s stupid that we buried four police officers who died from COVID. We just commemorated their stars at CPD headquarters last week.”

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She added that it was “foolish to try and pull off a victory lap when so much is at stake. Unfortunately, this is in line with the direction of the Fraternal Order of Police. They will be vaccinated.”

Friday was the last day to get vaccinated (the second for Pfizer and Moderna) to ensure the employee is fully vaccinated by the deadline – as it takes two weeks for the vaccine to take effect.

Lightfoot gave no details on the “consequences” of not being vaccinated, speaking only of “additional measures taken,” according to the Tribune.

“What I am saying is that there will be consequences if people do not comply with the policy by October 15,” adding that she believes in “responsibility” and hopes workers will respect voluntarily the requirement, reported FOX 32.

In a position that appeared to contradict the mayor, the city’s public health commissioner Dr Allison Arwady said the city would initially have testing requirements for unvaccinated employees before the deadline, the Tribune reported.

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City officials should try to be consistent in their explanations of policies, Chicago Federation of Labor president Bob Reiter said in a statement, noting his union had not signed the vaccination requirement. .