Mayor Daley Blames Media For "Clockwatchers" Comment

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Feb 5, 2009 9:45PM

We told you earlier about Mayor Daley's "clockwatchers" comment in regards to city workers, who Daley said, "They're not customer-related. They're gonna leave at 5 o'clock." This afternoon, Daley tried to set the record straight...by blaming it all on the media.

Said Hizzoner:

I said that some people just watch the clock-government workers or anybody else-and leave. But here in Chicago, we're fortunate that people just don't watch the clock. I never said city workers of … Chicago are not good workers. Would you correct that for me? I know it’s hard because I’m a ping-pong ball for the media. If you don’t have the Daley name, I guess they don’t read the newspapers. But just correct that … Don’t misinterpret what I say to try to bring confrontation against city workers. That’s really unfair. City workers work hard. I talked about the city in a positive way. But you’re trying to follow me in a negative way so you have people yelling at me. I know that’s your gig. But be responsible.

Yes, Mayor Daley, it's the Big Bad Media out to get you. Never mind that, as the Sun-Times points out, only one major labor union endorsed you for re-election in 2007. Chicago Federation of Labor President Dennis Gannon was upset with Daley's remarks and responded, “At 3 a.m., we’ve got guys making sure the streets are safe and sound for citizens trying to get to work. Firemen were out at Holy Name. When you had that huge water main break on the North Side, they didn’t care about the clock. They were there to do a job for taxpayers.