CHICAGO: A judge is expected to rule Monday about whether to extend an order barring the president of the Chicago police union from making public statements encouraging members to disobey the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Earlier this month, Cook County Judge Cecilia Horan granted the citys request for a temporary injunction which was to expire late Monday. After hearing arguments, Horan said she would issue a written ruling later in the day.
City attorneys want the order extended to include other union leaders in addition to Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara, accusing him of continuing to speak out or having other union officials do so in his place.
Mr. Catanzara continues to make statements that if not cross the line, come right up to over and certainly his toes are crossing the line, Mike Warner, an attorney for the city, said. These statements are adding gasoline to the fire. They are urging his members to engage in an unlawful act.
City employees have to be vaccinated by year’s end with few exceptions or risk losing their jobs. Most departments complied with an initial deadline this month to report their status, but the police department has lagged behind in the escalating legal fight.
The city argues the unions actions amount to encouraging a work stoppage while union attorneys say the matter is part of a unfair labor dispute and the vaccine mandate was ordered without union input.
Catanzara has directed members to defy the citys requirement and been outspoken in recent days on social media and in person. He spoke Monday to dozens of of protesters gathered outside Chicagos City Hall and during a City Council meeting.
This is not the way a government is supposed to run. It is not a queen on that throne. It is a mayor, he said during the meeting, adding that there’d be hundreds of officers defying the order.
He asked aldermen to back the union and support a proposal requiring council approval for policies that govern disciplining city employees, saying those who didn’t support it would see challengers in the 2023 municipal election.
Chicago police leaders, who call the vaccine mandate a matter of public health, have said less than two dozen officers haven’t complied with the order so far.
Police Superintendent David Brown said Monday that 23 department employees were placed on no-pay status for failing to comply with the order. About 70% of department employees have reported their vaccination status, of which 80% are fully vaccinated, numbers that have recently increased.
We want to stay focused on protecting the people of Chicago. That includes the police officers of this department, Brown said. So we really see this as a life-saving effort for police officers … Part of that means following through on the vaccine mandate.
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Associated Press reporter Kathleen Foody contributed to this report.
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