Chicago City Wire

Lori Lightfoot, Mayor of the City of Chicago, said that the city must rehire and compensate unionized workers for lost wages after an Illinois judge that the city "failed and refused" to bargain in good faith with union leaders "over the effects of its decision to implement a COVID-19 vaccine mandate." on Apr 24th.

"Employees who fail to report their vaccination status by October 15, 2021, will be placed in a non-disciplinary, no pay status," a press release stated at the time.

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported that the state sees 31 per 100 thousand weekly cases, noting that Illinois has had approximately 4.1 million total cases.

The judge's ruling applies to unionized city workers cast in jobs that include carpenters, bricklayers, plumbers, electricians and machinists with impacted employees also stamped entitled to lost wages and benefits with 7% annual interest.

During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, former President Donald Trump told his constituents to inject disinfectant, an example of COVID-19 misinformation Penn Medicine News warned. The National Library of Medicine wrote social media is a hotspot for COVID-19 misinformation, noting political motives.

At the height of the COVID-19 crisis in 2021, Mayor Lightfoot announced all city employees must be fully vaccinated, adding that there would be "consequences" for those who failed to fully follow her instructions by that October, with penalties including being "placed in a non-disciplinary, no pay status."

Lightfoot lost her reelection to Mayoral Candidates Brandon Johnson and Paul Vallas. Johnson defeated Vallas, garnering 51.1% of the votes, during the April 4 runoff.

Lightfoot's term as Mayor is set to officially come to an end on May 15, after she became the city's first mayor not to win re-election in four decades following a race that largely came down to crime for voters as the city saw some of its highest crime rates in recent history during her time at City Hall.