Mayor Kate Wdowiasz says the impasse in contracts is due to a lack of union concessions.

Dunkirk Mayor Kate Wdowiasz defended herself against city unions, stating that they are unwilling to negotiate and that city taxpayers can no longer afford their contracts.

Wdowiasz said she wanted to “set the record straight” during the phone interview Thursday with the OBSERVER.

Union leaders and workers turned out in force on Tuesday during the Common Council meeting. Jake Stern, representing Local 616 and its 24 uniformed firefighters, said during the meeting the union had unanimously voted no confidence in Wdowiasz and city attorney Elliot Raimondo.

“This action follows a long and troubling pattern of leadership failures that have undermined public safety, increased financial risk to taxpayers, and diminished confidence in the administration of the city of Dunkirk,” Stern said. “These actions undermine fair labor practices, harm employee relations and expose the city to unnecessary legal and operational risks. These actions have also led to challenges with recruitment, retention and resignation among our membership.”

Wdowiasz said the city currently has two expired contracts where the unions have sought new terms: one for Local 616 (firefighters), the other for Local 912 (Department of Public Works employees).

“We met with them several times last year and we have come to an impasse because they were not willing to make concessions,” Wdowiasz said. The city has filed for impasse arbitration.

“To be clear, I do support unions, and respect the work of our employees,” Wdowiasz said. “But that respect for the contract must come on both sides. It cannot just benefit one party.”

She continued, “This administration understands that these contracts need to have some give and take. They are not willing to come to the negotiation table. Taxpayers, while they support the unions, cannot afford the union contracts they have.”

Wdowiasz acknowledged recent tax increases but stated, “That was just to cover salaries that were never budgeted. We’re not at the point where we can come to the table and offer anything without hurting the taxpayers.”

She declared, “The unions are making it sound like I am not willing to negotiate with them. The fact of the matter is, they are not willing to negotiate.”

The city mayor moved briefly to complaints about the police department, which did get a new contract last year.

She alleged the police are “outright harassing me by following improper practice charges because they don’t want to follow the letter of the contract.”

Wdowiasz added that “Most of our police force are not taxpayers, they do not live in the city,” and there have been “harsh comments” about how they don’t care if Dunkirk taxpayers and the city’s bottom line are harmed by their salaries and benefits.

Wdowiasz went on: “People think that I am forcing people to retire or leave employment. I have been very honest to the members that retire that we can no longer afford their contracts,” and that has led to decisions to quit, she said.

“You have to give up something. You can’t come to us to cash out 240 sick days when you retire. 15% insurance buyouts are ridiculous,” the mayor said.

She alleged that several employees somehow took buyouts without ever being on the city’s insurance.

“These are generational things that have gone on, that the taxpayers no longer can afford,” Wdowiasz said. “When the unions simply are asked to follow their contracts, they don’t want to do that.”

Asked how city unions’ allegedly bloated contracts came about in the first place, the mayor blamed “Mismanagement through decades” and an over-reliance on revenue from the NRG power plant. The plant’s shutdown in the mid-2010s exploded a hole into the city’s finances that it has not recovered from.

“My concerns are people not being able to pay their taxes,” Wdowiasz said. Unions “need to come to the negotiating table with realistic expectations. … Without unions coming to the table with realistic expectations, our residents can’t afford them.”

She concluded, “I’ve given them all the facts — they don’t like the facts. They don’t like the fact that they are broke.”