DUNKIRK, N.Y. (WKBW) — The unions representing Dunkirk's police and fire departments say contract negotiations with the city have stalled, placing the blame on Mayor Kate Wdowiasz. However, Wdowiasz says the unions are the reason for the impasse.
Patrick Ossman, president of the Dunkirk Professional Firefighters Association, and John Arns, president of the Dunkirk Police Benevolent Association, sat down with WKBW.
According to Ossman, the fire department has been working on an expired contract for over a year.
"There's been a constant attack on all city unions' contractual benefits with zero negotiation," Ossman said. "This administration refused to sit down and meet with us, come to any type of common ground or agreement."
"They just prefer to tell us, we'll see you in court. Everything wants to be handled with attorneys and through court, which all cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars every time one of these cases goes to court," Ossman said.
"It took the city over 13 months to get us their contract proposals to us," Ossman said. "We had a meeting in early 2025 and we just recently received their contract proposals, so this isn't falling on us that we're unwilling to negotiate."
Arns says the police department has an active contract, but the city is not following through on "what's already been agreed upon."
"Decisions that are being made by this administration are affecting the morale," Arns said. "It's increased strain on us. It's making it harder to recruit and retain officers, and with all that, that affects the level of service that we can provide to the citizens of Dunkirk."
"I will state that in the past, in the past 25 years, with all past administrations, we've had great working relationships and worked to a common agreement with zero cases going to arbitration," Arns said.
"The only way that this mayor and attorney want to communicate is through attorneys and in court since the day she took office," Arns said.
On Tuesday, April 21, both unions appeared at the Dunkirk Common Council meeting and announced a resolution of "no confidence" in Mayor Wdowiasz, who was not in attendance.
Speaking with Wdowiasz on Monday, she says both departments' demands are "unrealistic."
WATCH: Dunkirk Fire and Police unions at impasse with city over contract negotiations
"I would love it if they would come to the table with realistic expectations, and when I say realistic expectations, they need to understand that substantial pay increases can no longer continue to happen," Wdowiasz said.
According to Wdowiasz, the point of contention for the fire department is the demand for "240 days of sick time and up to 480 hours of comp time that they have on the books."
The firefighters' contract expired at the end of 2024. Under Section 10.01, firefighters "shall be granted sick leave at the rate of one and one-fourth (1 1/4) days per month" and that time "shall be cumulative," meaning unused sick days roll over from year to year.
Upon retirement, Section 12.02 allows firefighters to cash out unused sick days, up to a maximum of 225 days. The contract also gives firefighters the option to cash out compensatory time, with Section 9.02 stating a firefighter "shall be entitled to cash out a maximum of twenty (20) compensatory days," each worth one-fifth of their weekly salary.
"For us to hold those liabilities when we're in such a severe fiscal crisis is no longer feasible, especially since all of our employees have access to long-term and short-term disability," Wdowiasz said.
Similarly, the mayor says the dispute with police stems from a 50% insurance buyout.
The same section also includes a buyout option: if an officer has health insurance through another source and drops the city's coverage, the city will pay the officer half the cost of the city's insurance plan in monthly payments.
"Unfortunately, our residents cannot afford their contracts the way they are written," Wdowiasz said. "I'm looking out for the taxpayers, the people who actually pay these employees' wages."
Arns responded to the mayor's characterization of the union's requests, stating that the agreement should be honored as signed.
"The mayor negotiated our contract and we settled our contract in 2024," Arns said. "She signed it. The issues currently being brought to light are not issues that were brought up during negotiations."
"Unfortunately, we had a significant tax hike that was 84%, and then last year we were at our tax cap, which was 2%. We only have $1.3 million more that we can raise in our budget. If I were to give the unions everything they wanted without them giving us any concessions, we would hit our constitutional tax limits," Wdowiasz said. "And then we would really have to look at the dissolution of maybe police services, maybe fire services into a regionalized approach, maybe our garbage collection, like we have to start thinking outside the box. Our tax base can no longer afford them."
In response to the unions' actions on Tuesday, Wdowiasz added that the negotiations have been difficult on a personal level as well.
"They're claiming that this is a toxic work environment and that there's retaliation on my end from my administration. Their behavior shows clearly that this is going in the other direction," Wdowiasz said.
"It is the police department, the fire department, and our other locals showing out in full force to say, and I'll say it, to bully me into doing what they want to do," Wdowiasz said. "I no longer feel safe in my community. I truly believe that they are retaliating and harassing me."
As the public dispute continues, the fire union reports a meeting has been set to resume negotiations, while the police union's contract dispute remains before the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB).
