Daley Lashes Out At Police Union

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Mar 31, 2009 8:20PM

With the Fraternal Order of Police - the union that represents the Chicago Police Department - scheduling a very public protest over a contract dispute with Mayor Daley outside of City Hall the day the International Olympic Committee rolls into town, it was only a matter of time before Mayor Daley lashed out. Said Hizzonah:

I just dedicated a brand new police station. No other city is building police stations….We spend an enormous amount of money. We're buying new police cars now. We have no apologies to make to any public employee.

The taxpayers have been very, very good to public employees….Your neighbor-he or she is out of a job. Their son and daughter graduated from college [and] cannot get a job…This is a very tough economic time and public employees have to understand that. This is the real world.

The Mayor and the FOP have been feuding more than usual in the last few weeks. Two weeks ago, the FOP issued a "no confidence" vote in Daley's hand-picked police superintendent, Jody Weis, a vote Daley dismissed. Then, just a few days later, Daley pulled a 16.1 percent pay increase off the table in negotiations with the FOP. The FOP responded by scheduling Thursday's protest.

Fraternal Order of Police President Mark Donahue responded to the mayor's comments by saying, "Of all public city employees, police are the most mindful of tough economic times. We deal with it day- in-and-day-out. When times are tough, crime rises. When times are tough, there are more domestic disputes. When times are tough, we're there to respond. If the mayor's concern is that we're not being realistic, instead of taking things off the table, put things on the table we can discuss and negotiate in fairness." He did, however, attempt to downplay any accusations the protest was scheduled specifically to coincide with the IOC visit just to throw a wrench in Daley's 2016 plans: "The timing of the informational picketing is based on the timing of their actions--so the mayor and the superintendent and the City Council get the message that there's a level of frustration over their actions." [Sun-Times]