Chicago police union vows court fight over rejected demand for 12 weeks of paid parental leave

The Fraternal Order of Police is vowing to go to court to force Mayor Brandon Johnson’s hand after the mayor rejected the union’s demand for the same 12 weeks of paid parental leave that Johnson granted to Chicago teachers and other CPS employees.

In a YouTube video posted late Friday, FOP President John Catanzara lambasted Johnson for establishing one standard of benefits for the mayor’s former union and another, lesser standard for the union representing rank-and-file Chicago Police Department officers.

“This mayor claims he is a union mayor. It couldn’t be farther from the truth. He has had several weeks now to do the right thing and grant parental leave to our members. He claims that this should’ve never been a collective bargaining right. That it’s just morally the right thing to do, which is why he did it for the teachers,” Catanzara told his members.

“Apparently, there is no morally right thing to do when it comes to police officers in this city. There is no respect from the fifth floor of City Hall. That is clear as can be. The only bargaining unit this mayor cares about is the teachers union. He is showing his true colors. He could do the right thing today. He could have [done] it yesterday when I talked to his chief of staff. That didn’t happen.”

As a result, Catanzara said the city has been “informed of our intent to take them to court” to force the mayor’s hand. He expects to present “very emotional testimony” from police officers whose families and newborn children have suffered because they have “not been afforded the ability to bond with their children for the last six-plus months while every other city employee pretty much has had that ability” since the benefit was offered by now-former Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

“It’s disgraceful. It’s a joke. And I’m so sick of saying that this Democratic Party, especially in Chicago and Illinois who claim they are pro-labor [when they couldn’t] give a damn less about police when it comes to police unions,” Catanzara said.

“Time to pony up. Do the right thing. It’s never too late. Just like the coward mayor before you who refused to do COVID designations for our officers and we had to fight tooth-and-nail to get that done. We are not letting this bone go. We are gonna be like a dog with it and we are gonna keep fighting for our members and for their children. Shame on you. Do the right thing.”

Senior mayoral adviser Jason Lee said the FOP’s demand for paid parental parity has been rejected for good reason.

CPD officers already have a generous sick pay policy allowing them to take up to 365 days off every two years.

“Their leave is significant and robust. Allows broad flexibility to use — even for parental leave. So it’s really not even a comparable situation,” Lee told the Sun-Times on Tuesday.

“I don’t want to get into all the particulars of it. I just think it’s not an apples-to-apples situation.”

Johnson is a former teacher-turned-paid organizer for the Chicago Teachers Union. He owes his improbable and meteoric rise from single-digit political unknown to mayor of Chicago to the millions of dollars in contributions from and hundreds of foot soldiers provided by the CTU, Service Employees International Union and their affiliates.

Even so, Lee categorically denied Catanzara’s claim that the “only bargaining unit this mayor cares about is the teachers union.”

“We’re working with all kinds of unions on all kinds of issues every day. [But] the situation with the teachers was particularly dire. When you talk about a workforce that is, what, 85% women and the need to retain quality educators, it’s essential to making sure that you have the workforce that you need in that particular area,” Lee said.

Catanzara spent the last four years battling Lightfoot over all things law enforcement.

Johnson initially tried to forge a different, more collaborative path. It appeared to be working, when he convinced Catanzara to wait for the Illinois General Assembly to eliminate a two-tier pension system for new and old police officers with a promise to tackle the longstanding inequity in the fall.

Johnson then appointed Catanzara to a “working group” charged with finding long-term solutions to an unfunded pension liability for Chicago taxpayers that rose to $35.4 billion last year after stock market losses suffered by the four city employee pension funds.

In a video message to the troops last month, Catanzara thanked Interim CPD Supt. Fred Waller and Chief of Patrol Brian McDermott for going “out of their way to have a conversation with this lodge about work schedules, not only for Juneteenth, but NASCAR, July 4th and all of that.”

Lee was obviously referring to the scheduling issue when he said CPD officers have “other priorities” and are not in “lock-step” on the need for parental leave.