Mayor Lori Lightfoot was booed at a fundraiser Sunday for Plumbers Union Local 130, the first union to endorse her in the 2019 runoff election against Toni Preckwinkle.
One attendee, who asked to remain anonymous, described Lightfoot as having been “booed off the stage” at the annual event at Plumbers Hall, 1340 W. Washington St., to raise money for Local 130’s political action committee — though a union official disputed that account.
The person requesting anonymity said Lightfoot “spoke for less than a minute. And there was a resounding booing throughout the room. Almost deafening, … I was sitting at the table with a bunch of plumbers. They’re like, `We’ve never heard that before here.’ … Clearly, their membership is not with her. … They were calling her names. It was bad.”
Pat McCarthy, the union’s recording secretary, acknowledged Lightfoot was booed during halftime of the Bears’ loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But McCarthy also insisted the mayor was “able to finish her remarks, got a cheer at the end,” then returned to her seat and watched the rest of the game.
“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 said.
“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.”
Ald. Silvana Tabares (23rd), however, said a close friend who attended the event showed her a video of the mayor being booed.
Union President Jim Majerowicz said he was downstairs counting money for the football pool when Lightfoot took the stage.
“I didn’t hear nothin’ … I was in a different room, so I can’t say,” Majerowicz said. “You’re telling me some shocking stuff. I find it hard to believe.”
As for the recent changes to the plumbing code that paved the way for increased use of plastic pipe, Majerowicz said, “We’ve been working with the mayor’s office on that. We’ve been supporting the mayor since Day One. We were the first union to support the mayor. She’s been here numerous times at meetings and stuff. She’s a great partner of ours. I just find it hard to believe.”
Business manager Jim Coyne introduced the mayor to Sunday’s crowd of over 1,000 people.
“I did not hear any booing,” he said. “That’s kind of impossible at Plumbers Hall. She’s loved by the plumbers. People wanted to get in line and take pictures with her.”
Whatever happened, Lightfoot’s political director Dave Mellet called it much ado about nothing.
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