Firefighters to march during NASCAR, Democratic convention to push Mayor Johnson for new contract

Chicago firefighters and paramedics will march on Michigan Avenue during an action-packed NASCAR weekend to press their three-yearslong demand for a new contract that includes adding 20 ambulances, their union president said Thursday.

Pat Cleary, president of Chicago Fire Fighters Union Local 2, predicted “hundreds” of his members would participate in the two-hour march “right alongside of NASCAR," from Roosevelt to Madison and back again, starting at 11 a.m. July 6.

They will be joined by Chicago police officers furious with Mayor Brandon Johnson for persuading the City Council to twice reject an independent arbitrator’s ruling on police discipline.

A similar march is planned during the Democratic National Convention “as close as possible to the United Center,” where delegates will meet Aug. 19-22 to celebrate nominating President Joe Biden for a second term, Cleary said. Local 2 has a permit for the first march but has not yet applied for a permit for the convention march.

The public show of discontent during two events showcasing Chicago on the international stage could be a major embarrassment to Johnson, though Cleary said that's not the goal.

Instead, he wants to demand attention and “respect” from Johnson, a former teacher and paid organizer for the Chicago Teachers Union, who has alienated two of the city’s most important unions in less than 16 months.

“We’re standing together because we’re both pissed off about all of this stuff. ... That’s the whole purpose of it — to show how unhappy we are. … I don’t think you should demonize your public safety workers,” Cleary said.

“I don’t have personal problems with the mayor. … He’s one of us. He’s a union organizer. He knows how we feel. He knows we want a contract. Treat us fairly," Cleary added. "Show us a little respect. … We worked through COVID. All of us went to the firehouse every day. And now, here we are. No pay raises [for three years]. No contract.”

Although Local 2 has a contract clause requiring Johnson to match the 5% annual raise he gave Chicago police officers, Cleary said City Hall has “offered us less,” which he called a “slap in the face.”

Jim Franczek, the city’s chief labor negotiator, could not be reached for comment on the march.

John Roberson, the city’s chief operating officer, said he was “not read in on any of that stuff” about the firefighters' three-year wait for a new contract.

Besides demanding 20 more ambulances, for a total of 100, Local 2 also wants at least a partial lifting of the long-standing rule requiring firefighters and paramedics to live in Chicago, like all other city employees.

But Roberson was unfazed by a potential public demonstration of discontent.

“They’re organized labor. They have the ability to express themselves, using their First Amendment right just like anybody else,” Roberson said.

He also disputed Cleary’s claim that Johnson is “slow-walking” negotiations with Local 2 by meeting only monthly.

“If it’s been three years and the mayor has only been in a year, I don’t think that’s a matter of him slow-walking it," Roberson said.

Former Mayor Rahm Emanuel added five more ambulances — for a total of 80. On Thursday, Cleary argued Chicago desperately needs 20 more, along with more paramedics to staff new ambulances and reduce the grueling workload on existing paramedics.

Houston and Los Angeles have “30 to 40 more ambulances” than Chicago, he said.

Often, no ambulances are available because "every ambulance in the city is out on a run," Cleary said.

“It occurs every day. That’s why they send out the engines and trucks on these runs to cover until anyone can get there,” Cleary added.

“They need to hire more medics. ... They’re overworked. … It’s dangerous to the public because you have tired, exhausted employees treating people medically. And not only that. They’re driving an ambulance. … You’re going to have accidents. You’re going to have paramedics making mistakes on runs because they’re on their 30th run of the day and it’s 4 in the morning. What can you expect out of that person? They’re human beings.”

Emanuel had been close to a new firefighters' contract, making concessions on health care while altering a requirement that every piece of fire apparatus be staffed by at least five employees.

Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot settled for a one-year deal. It included $95 million in back pay but nearly doubled employee health care contributions. That deal expired in June 2021.

Cleary refused to disclose the cost-cutting reductions Johnson is seeking, saying only that the mayor wants to increase how many times in a day a piece of fire apparatus can be operated with fewer than the five-employee minimum.

“They keep chipping away at us and making our job more and more unsafe,” Cleary said. “If you take my personnel away, you’re making it harder for us to work. Think about us going into a high-rise. We have to walk up 20 sets of stairs. I’m now forcing four guys to carry the equipment that five guys should be carrying. That’s wrong.”

The residency rule was imposed by former Mayor Richard J. Daley to stabilize the city's tax base. Periodic demands to lift it have met a stone wall of opposition from City Hall.

Cleary acknowledged changing the residency rule is an uphill battle, but he'd at least like to "chip away" at it.

"Maybe after 20 years you get to move out. ... I'd like to get anything just to have a starting point," he said.

"I know a lot of people don't want to live in the city because of all the crime, because they think the public schools aren't very good. ... They're tired of it. You see all the crime every day. They don't want to live in that anymore."