Chicago Area Local News

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Thousands of Chicago Police officers gathered downtown Thursday, picketing over their lack of a new union contract on the day the International Olympic Committee is coming to evaluate Chicago as a 2016 Olympic candidate.

As CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports, as of 11 a.m., more than 1,000 officers were already marching around the perimeter of City Hall, and more were gathering. The crowd was swelling to more than 2,000 by 11:45 a.m., reaching all around the perimeter of the City Hall-County Building complex.

In total, the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police estimated that between 2,500 and 4,000 officers attended the demonstration.

By 12:10 p.m., the officers were moving to Daley Plaza, and Clark Street was shut down to accommodate them.

Chicago FOP President Mark Donahue addressed the swelling crowd sometime before 12:30 p.m., then directed the officers to go back to their buses.

Some of them left behind their picket signs in the Daley Plaza planters.

Their signs expressed their frustration -- with the mayor, with their superintendent and the city's obsession with the Olympics while their contract remained on the back burner.

Daley "is more concerned about the Olympics -- (they are) years to come yet," one protester said. "You got to take care of this matter now with these guys. They're the ones putting their lives on the line every day."

The protest was a clear effort to embarrass Mayor Richard M. Daley's administration and the City of Chicago on the day the Olympic Evaluation Commission is set to visit.

The officers were carrying signs as they demonstrated with several messages: "First responders, last paid," "Weis: $300,000/yr (1/2 his duties); Police: More work, NO pay!," "No Contract, No Peace, No justice with Weis."

The officers have been working without a new contract and without pay raises since 2007. Some officers are also angry with Daley and believe the mayor did not treat seriously their "no-confidence" vote in Superintendent Jody Weis.

"Apparently, the mayor's not receiving the message," said Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President Mark Donahue. "That message is not only the vote of no confidence in the superintendent. That message is also the fact that the mayor, or his people, have attempted to negotiate a lot of the issues that are supposed to be at the table, in the press, and the final issue is that the mayor has now pulled the package from the table, not giving us a base from which to negotiate from."

"I have a good relationship with the Police and Fire departments, but like anything else, the taxpayer; it's all about the taxpayer," Daley said earlier this week. "Our revenue is going down. We put a fair offer on. They refused. So like anything else , then you have to go to binding arbitration. That's what you have to do. But it isn't our doing. It happens every four years; you know, it takes some of them three to four years to get the agreement. That's part of negotiation. But remember, I think they have a right to picket, and let them picket."

The city has offered a more than 15 percent salary increase over five years, and all the other city unions have accepted it, Daley said.

The blog Second City Cop, which his written by Chicago Police officers, has extensively discussed the picket.

Officers from all around the city came out for the protest, according to the blog. A bus from the Chicago Lawn District had to make two trips because there were so many people, and almost 100 people came out from the Jefferson Park District alone, the blog said.

Second City Cop said that the National and State FOP Lodges had also pledged support, with scheduled appearances by National FOP President Chuck Canterbury and State FOP President Ted Street.

But the Chicago Police Sergeants' Association, a separate union which represents sergeants, decided not to participate in the picket.

"Due to our ongoing contract negotiations, the Executive Board of the CPSA has voted not to participate in the upcoming 'informational picketing,'" Sergeants' Association President John Pallohusky wrote in a letter posted on the union's Web site. "The CPSA Executive Board fully understands the frustrations that have prompted the other police unions to take this action, but at this time we believe the interests of the members of the Chicago Police Sergeants' Association are best served by the ongoing negotiation process."

Second City Cop said signs were being provided, but suggested that officers might also bring some other signs that family members could carry.

"Something like "My Daddy needs a Contract" will almost guarantee your kid face time on TV and will bring home the point that we've been trying to raise families in this city for the past two years while the aldercreatures and their staffs got large raises and the other unions got better than average offers in return for ten years of labor peace," Second City Cop wrote on Monday.

Last week, Lori Healey, president of Chicago 2016, said if the IOC runs into a police picket, local officials will simply explain it is a labor dispute "that's not directly related to 2016" and that "this is a city where people express their opinions."

CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine and Don Schwenneker contributed to this report.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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