Cook County Jail in Chicago on lockdown because over 200 guards called off on Mother's Day

Do you know any Cook County jail guards? Are they one of the 86 guards who called in sick today? Check their social media accounts to see if they are really ill. As for the over 100 guards who used the family leave act to blow off work today--did their union give them this cunning idea?--couldn't they have sent flowers or visited mom on their day off closest to Mother's Day?

Of course if these "public servants" were raised right by their mothers, they would have a sense of responsibility and show up to work when they are scheduled. If they are unable to, then these guards never should have taken a job where it's required that they work weekends and holidays, including Christmas, and yes, Mother's Day.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

More than 200 Cook County Jail officers called off work Sunday — which also happens to be Mother's Day.

About 32 percent of the officers assigned to work from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. did not go to work, according to the Cook County Sheriff's office.

"The extraordinary number of call offs puts additional pressure on the men and women of the Sheriff’s office who come to work as scheduled," the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

Of the 200 officers to call in, 86 said they were sick, the sheriff’s office said, and another 120 cited the Family Medical Leave Act, a federal law that protects an employee's personal or family illness, family military leave and pregnancy, among other issues.

The massive jail on the Southwest Side of Chicago is on lockdown--only "essential movement," involving things like health care, are allowed for prisoners.

On the upside, last year over 400 guards called off on Mother's day and over 500 on Father's Day.

These "sicknesses" carry over into the sporting world. Another lockdown occurred because last year because of the college football national championship game and another in 2015 because of the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao boxing match.

Cook County Jail  under the jurisdiction of Sheriff Tom Dart, a Chicago Democrat.

My wife, a mother, worked today.

There is no news if the lockdown has an effect on pizza deliveries to inmates.

And finally, is this what Mayor Rahm Emanuel calls "Chicago values?"

UPDATE 6:15pm Chicago time on Mother's Day:

The Chicago Tribune is reporting--paid subscription my be required for the link--that "about 25 percent of staff for the second shift of the day also had called in sick."

Sheriff Dart might as well call for a lockdown now for Father's Day.

Now is one of those times to wonder why the League of Shadows hasn't come to Chicago?

"The League of Shadows has been a check against human corruption for thousands of years. We sacked Rome, loaded trade ships with plague rats, burned London to the ground. Every time a civilization reaches the pinnacle of its decadence, we return to restore the balance." Ra's al Ghul in Batman Begins.

UPDATE 6:30pm CDT:

Teamsters Local 700 represents the jail guards at Cook County Jail.