The tense stand-off between Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Police Department (CPD) labor unions looks like it’s going to continue into next year after a Cook County judge issued a stay, or temporary restraining order, on the December 31 deadline for all officers to be vaccinated or essentially lose their jobs.
Judge Raymond Mitchell essentially ruled that the city and the police unions need to go back to the table and negotiate terms in light of his opinion that “nothing” can “undo a vaccine.” However, Mitchell did allow the city to keep the requirement that mandates officers report whether they’ve been vaccinated or not.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times:
Those unions had sought to stop the city from enforcing its order requiring all city workers to share their vaccination status on an online portal and submit to twice-weekly testing if they are not fully vaccinated against the coronavirus[…]
Mitchell, who heard arguments in the case last week by attorneys for the Fraternal Order of Police and the city, left intact the requirement that CPD officers report their vaccine status and the city’s current policy requiring multiple weekly tests for unvaccinated officers. But Mitchell’s order does stay the Dec. 31 deadline for all officers to be vaccinated, urging the city and union to pursue arbitration.
The judge brought up a very good point in his decision that very few people have put forth in opinions on the topic of vaccination, which led to said decision to stay the order.
“Obey now, grieve later’ is not possible,” Mitchell wrote in his decision. “If every union member complied and was vaccinated by December 31 ... they would have no grievance to pursue and there would be no remedy an arbitrator could award. An award of back pay or reinstatement cannot undo a vaccine. Nothing can.”
That’s absolutely, 100 percent correct. Once you inject yourself with anything, you can’t undo it. It’s in your bloodstream. There’s no turning back, and that’s a point that the establishment doesn’t want you to think about.
This isn’t to say that you should or shouldn’t get vaccinated. That’s a conversation between you and your doctor. But the powers-that-be need to realize that they’re not forcing you to do some arbitrary thing. They’re asking you to directly inject something into your body, and you only get one.
If you want to get the jab, get it. No one’s going to shame you for it. If you want to wear a mask, if it makes you feel more comfortable around others for whatever reason, go right ahead. It’s when there are people that try and mandate doing the same for others that might not want to. Those people just want the same courtesy.
For local coverage of this story, watch below: