By Stephen T. Watson
The Buffalo News, N.Y.
TONAWONDA, N.Y. — The Town of Tonawanda has formally accused members of its police force of violating the state’s Taylor Law by participating in an illegal “strike,” but the town is not seeking to fire any of them and is open to resolving the dispute through a negotiated settlement, Supervisor Joseph Emminger said Wednesday.
The town on Friday filed charges against the Town of Tonawanda Police Club, the union for rank-and-file officers, with the state Public Employment Relations Board, Emminger said.
Town of Tonawanda says police officers went on illegal strike by failing to write tickets
Tonawanda officials say some police officers engaged in an illegal strike by refusing to write traffic tickets, and the Town Board is preparing to take legal action against their union. The union decried this move and said it’s the latest sign that a change in leadership is needed in the department.
He said the town next week plans to send letters to dozens of individual officers accused of taking part in a ticket boycott, a charge dismissed by the officers’ union.
Tonawanda officials still are working out what discipline they will seek to impose on the officers, if PERB upholds the charges, but the town likely would fine them, said Emminger, who pointed to the “possibility” of a settlement.
“The town is certainly open to it. It takes two to tango. They’re not willing to negotiate,” Emminger said of the Police Club . “We’re obligated by law to do what we’re doing. And we have no choice in this. So at this point, it’ll progress in accordance with the law.”
Tonawanda ‘strike’ charges deepen rift between town and its police officers
Town Supervisor Joseph Emminger said a preliminary investigation determined officers wrote fewer traffic tickets than normal during a three-week period that ended in early February.
Union leaders vehemently deny officers engaged in a job action and accuse the town of lying about a strike to deflect attention from their complaints about Police Chief James Stauffiger . The Police Club has launched a website to further publicize its demands for Stauffiger’s removal.
The formal filing of charges was widely expected. The Town Board voted Feb. 24 to have its outside lawyers prepare and bring charges under the Taylor Law, which prohibits strikes by public employees.
Tonawanda Town Board February 24 Audience
The crowd that attended the Feb. 24 Tonawanda Town Board meeting, where board members voted to file charges accusing town police officers of engaging in an illegal “strike,” was heavily attended by police supporters.
The Buffalo News on Friday filed a public records request for the charging documents. The town has not yet fulfilled this request, but WIVB-TV was first to report on the charges.
PERB on Wednesday afternoon released the filing to The News under the Freedom of Information Law. In the document, the town’s attorneys argue public employees are guilty of participating in a strike when they “abstain wholly or in part” from the full performance of their normal duties.
The complaint lays out data on tickets issued during the three-week “strike” period, much of it previously released by the town, and alleges the job action was a “concerted activity” by leaders and members of the police union. The town seeks “all remedies available to it” under the Taylor Law, according to the document.
Town of Tonawanda Police Strike Charge
This is a copy of the charges filed by the Town of Tonawanda against town police officers and their union with the state Public Employment Relations Board.
Emminger said the Police Club has eight days to respond. The Public Employment Relations Board will hold a hearing on the charges before issuing its decision.
John Gilmour , the attorney for the Police Club , declined to comment on the filing. Andy Thompson , a town police officer and the Police Club’s president, deferred comment to the union’s public relations representative, who did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
The town claims most of the department’s patrol officers engaged in a ticket boycott, or slowdown, between Jan. 15 and Feb. 5 .
Officer accused of mishandling drug evidence just before Tonawanda police ‘strike’ began
Town of Tonawanda Police Chief James Stauffiger recommended dismissing Officer Bikramjit Singh from the force because of his “written record of repeated infractions” of department regulations. Singh resigned before a disciplinary hearing was held.
Town officials have previously said the job action began one day after an officer, who later resigned, was served with departmental charges from Stauffiger.
The town on Feb. 27 released the preliminary findings of an investigation, conducted by outside counsel, into the “strike.”
Tonawanda data shows steep drop in police tickets issued during ‘strike’ period
These and other statistics ultimately will be part of the town’s legal case that its officers and their union violated the state’s Taylor Law , which prohibits strikes by public employees.
Town officials believe Tonawanda’s six probationary officers were told not to participate in a job action.
During those three weeks, the town’s 48 non-probationary patrol officers wrote 52 tickets across 380 days worked, or 0.14 per officer per shift, according to the town’s investigation. The six probationary officers, for their part, wrote 71 tickets over 80 days worked, for an average of .89 tickets per officer per shift, the town reported.
Emminger on Wednesday said about 25 or so officers wrote no tickets during the three-week period.
The Police Club has insisted officers did their jobs during the alleged “strike.”
“It seems that based on the bogus numbers put out by the town today,” Thompson said in a statement Feb. 27 , “this is yet another desperate attempt to accuse our members, who risk their lives every day, of committing a work stoppage.”
Town of Tonawanda police union head on tension with administration
Andy Thompson , president of the Town of Tonawanda Police Club , the union which represents officers in the town, talks about recent tensions between officers and the administration.
Emminger said the town will send letters to at least the approximately 25 officers accused of issuing no tickets during the three-week “strike” period and as many as all 48 of its non-probationary officers.
“We are not looking to fire anyone,” Emminger said. “Discipline is under consideration. There’ll be a financial penalty that we’ll be looking to obtain. But whether there’ll be a suspension still hasn’t been decided.”
Police Strike Joseph Emminger
Town of Tonawanda Supervisor Joseph Emminger has publicly defended the police chief and did so again on Wednesday.
Emminger said PERB charges often are settled before a board decision. He said he, Town Attorney Michael Kooshoian , Thompson and Gilmour met once but the parties are not close to reaching a deal.
Days before the town formally filed charges, the union set up a website calling for Stauffiger’s ouster and repeating its claim about a “strike that never happened.” The site, stauffigerhastogo.com, said the town’s lawsuit amounts to retaliation for raising concerns about the “toxic culture” created by Stauffiger.
Tonawanda police union denies ‘strike’ took place but says issues with chief are real
Morale has suffered, current and retired officers said in interviews, in part because of overzealous discipline by the chief.
Stauffiger did not respond to a request for comment on the website’s claims.
Emminger has publicly defended the police chief and did so again Wednesday, saying the union has not presented him with a convincing argument for removing Stauffiger.
He blamed the New York City -based public relations firm retained by the union for ratcheting up the tension between rank-and-file officers and police leadership.
Michael Skelly , of Skelly Strategic Solutions, did not reply to a request for a response.
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