Town of Tonawanda Supervisor Joe Emminger and police union president Andy Thompson have announced in a joint statement they have reached a tentative agreement between officers alleged to have gone on strike, and the town. A major advancement in the war of words on both sides.
Emminger said he’s looking forward to putting this incident behind him.
“The town board and I have always supported the Town of Tonawanda Police Department. It's a great police department, one of the finest in the area," said Emminger. "We're happy with the job that they do. We also support our chief of police, who also does an excellent job, and we're very satisfied with the job that he has done over the years.”
Emminger believes the tentative agreement, which came shortly after an adjournment in a hearing with the state, proved that he was correct.
“So the results of that is that they are admitting that what I've been saying all along, that they're admitting that they did what they did," said the supervisor. "This was not a question about being a money grab, as you know, they have alleged.”
Officers were accused by Emminger and others of engaging in a “ticket strike” last winter, alleged to have started after a dispute over a discipline process with an officer who is no longer employed in Tonawanda.
Emminger shared with BTPM NPR the tentative agreement will reduce Taylor Law fines for officers in half, while maintaining their right to still appeal the fines. The police club will lose one month of union dues from its members.
“They were reduced in half. The officers' fines are based on their hourly wages, double their hourly wage, and then by a half hour," he said. "So it basically works out that they are going to be fined for half hour for each day that they worked. So if someone worked 10 days, they'll be fined for five.”
The officers will begin seeing deductions in their paycheck starting next week.
BTPM NPR reached out to Thompson and the police union for comment, however he declined due to the tentative nature of the agreement.
