More than a dozen Chicago aldermen have filed notice to force a special meeting of the City Council this week to undo Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s vaccine mandate for city workers.

       Under City Council rules, any three aldermen can call a special meeting to discuss ordinance proposals or other issues. Southwest Side Ald. Silvana Tabares, 23rd, has been leading an effort to repeal Lightfoot’s vaccine mandate and give the City Council a vote on vaccination rules and consequences for breaking them. She signed the letter calling for the special meeting, along with mostly Northwest and Southwest Side aldermen whose wards include many city workers.

       “To my colleagues who want to get more people vaccinated, I agree (with you),” Tabares tweeted. “But what makes more people willing to get vaccinated? 50 alders who pass a policy based on collaboration and inclusion, or 1 mayor who has stormed off from the bargaining table & issue.”

       Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons.

       It’s not certain the meeting will take place, however. A majority of aldermen would have to show up, meaning at least 26 of the council’s 50 members.

       Members of the Fraternal Order of Police and supporters rally outside of City Hall this week in opposition to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for city workers. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)

       Lightfoot announced in August that each of the city’s more than 30,000 workers must be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus by Oct. 15, following numerous cities across the U.S. As the deadline approached, Lightfoot pressured city workers with unspecified “consequences” if they did not meet the vaccination cutoff.

       After back-and-forth with the police union, Lightfoot agreed Oct. 8 to allow city workers to remain unvaccinated until the end of the year — if they submit to twice-weekly testing at their own expense.

       But Lightfoot then drew a line in the sand, saying all city workers must fill out the city portal form reporting their status, regardless of whether they’re vaccinated, or be placed on a no-pay status.

       Aldermen introduced an ordinance last week calling for Lightfoot’s vaccine mandate to be voided and requiring City Council approval for “all policies, rules and regulations governing discipline of city employees.”

       The police union and a separate group of city workers have filed court actions challenging the vaccine mandate. As of earlier this week, 23 police officers had been sidelined without pay for refusing to report their vaccine status.

       [Most read] Timeline: The allegations against a former Chicago Blackhawks video coach ？

       A Cook County judge is due to hear arguments Thursday in the local Fraternal Order of Police’s suit against the city, in which the union is seeking a temporary restraining order to stop the city from enforcing its “unilaterally implemented” vaccine policy.

       In a countersuit by the city against the union, a separate Cook County judge placed a gag order on local FOP President John Catanzara prohibiting him from public statements that discouraged his membership from complying with the vaccine reporting rule. But the judge allowed that to expire Monday.

       At a celebratory news conference Wednesday after her budget passed, Lightfoot deflected a question about the effort to force a Friday meeting about the vaccine mandate.

       “Today is a day for celebration and we’ll deal with the politics another time,” Lightfoot said.

       gpratt@chicagotribune.com

       Measure to repeal parental notification law for minors seeking abortion takes another step toward Pritzker’s desk

       57m

       Chicago aldermen pass Lightfoot’s $16 billion budget, buoyed by federal COVID-19 relief funds

       1h

       Chicago Blackhawks Kyle Beach, a former Chicago Blackhawks prospect, reveals he is the ‘John Doe’ suing the team over its handling of a 2010 sexual assault allegation

       23m

       Chicago Blackhawks Timeline: The allegations against a former Chicago Blackhawks video coach

       Oct 26, 2021

       Chicago White Sox Ozzie Guillén, who guided the Chicago White Sox to the 2005 World Series title, reportedly interviews for the San Diego Padres managerial opening

       Oct 26, 2021