Chicago City Wire

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is facing a challenge over the city’s vaccine mandate for employees.

Two Chicago City Council members, 23rd Ward Alderman Silvana Tabares and 41st Ward Alderman Anthony Napolitano, proposed an ordinance that would eliminate Lighfoot’s vaccine mandate. The aldermen argue that the city council must approve placing employees on leave for not cooperating with the policy.

“Notwithstanding any other provision of the city code to the contrary, and subject to the terms of any applicable collective-bargaining agreement approved by City Council, any new policy, rule or regulation that provides for placing city employees on non-disciplinary, no-pay status requires City Council approval,” the ordinance reads.

The order in particular rescinds Lightfoot’s vaccine policy.

“The City of Chicago COVID-19 Vaccination Policy that became effective October 8, 2021 is hereby rendered null and void and shall have no further force and effect,” the ordinance reads.

Tabares called into question a lack of respect on behalf of Lightfoot toward the city’s first responders.  

“Our city workers have been working throughout this pandemic and they deserve more than edicts, they deserve respect,” Tabares said in a Facebook post. “The residents we represent deserve an open and transparent hearing to force the mayor to justify her actions and to demonstrate that she made all efforts to work collaboratively with the invested parties. I urge my colleagues to support this measure because whether you agree with vaccines or not, we need to be at the table because whatever the outcome, we will have to answer to the residents about how we were engaged in this process.”

Napolitano said 13 aldermen have now signed onto the ordinance.

“Our city workers showed up for us every day during the worst of the pandemic,” Napolitano posted on Facebook. “Now it’s time we show our support for them.”

The vaccine mandate has been met with restating by the city police force and firefighters.

“Our end goal is to get rid of this vaccine mandate, which I believe is what most people feel the end goal is,” Brendan Hehir of the Chicago Fire Department said in a video.

Yesterday the Chicago Police Department said it was suspending 21 police officers and seeking disciplinary action against them for not complying with orders to upload their vaccine status.

“If we fail to make them bargain with us on this issue, what issue is next?” Fraternal Order of Police vice president Michael Mette, said in a video. “For all you young coppers out there, you got a long way to go and don’t think it can’t get worse.”

The police department has the lowest compliance rate of any city department with just under 70% uploading vaccine status.