Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was booed at a union fundraiser this weekend.
At Sunday’s annual fundraiser for Plumbers Union Local 130 (the first union to endorse her 2019 runoff election), the Democratic mayor received an unpleasant reception, according to the Chicago Sun-Times .
Unidentified attendee told the outlet Lightfoot was “booed off stage” after speaking for less that a minute.
The person replied, “Almost deafening.” “I was sitting at a table with a bunch plumbers. They are like, “We’ve never heard it before here.” Clearly, they don’t belong to her. They were calling her names. They called her names. It was awful.”
After being picked up by conservative media, video purportedly taken at this event was circulated via social media on Wednesday. It featured Jim Coyne (the union’s business manager), introducing Lightfoot, and there was a lot of applause as she took to the podium.
One person in the video said, “I knew it was going to happen,”
“That’s f—-ing brutal,” another person said in the video.
Officials from the union downplayed the boos. Pat McCarthy, the union’s recording secretary, stated that Lightfoot was able finish her remarks.
“I was there when she was speaking. There were a couple of people in the corner that booed. But it was nothing significant. And it didn’t disrupt the event at all,” McCarthy told the Sun-Times. “I would have to suspect whoever was booing at that event was not a member of this local. … We respect her and we have no problems with the mayor.”
Lightfoot’s political director, Dave Mellet, said he’s confident the union will endorse the mayor’s reelection in 2023.
“I don’t believe that she was, quote-unquote, ‘booed’ at this event,” he told the outlet. “I believe she was well received. There may have been a couple of people in the room who came in there to shout and be loud.”
Unions are furious at Lightfoot’s mandate for city workers to report COVID-19 vaccination status, or face unpaid leave.
Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) President John Catanzara said it’s not just his union but first responders, firefighters and labor unions that oppose the mandate. He instructed officers to apply for exemptions from receiving vaccines, and gave instructions on what to do if they were given a direct order to update the city portal about their vaccination status.
Since then, both sides have taken legal action against one another. Catanzara was granted a temporary injunction by a judge to stop Catanzara making public comments encouraging FOP members not to comply with the COVID-19 vaccination mandate. This will be until the next hearing regarding the city’s lawsuit, which is scheduled for Oct. 25.
