Denver Fire Department Facebook page
Audio By Carbonatix
Solidarity is touted as a fundamental principle of organized labor. But does solidarity mean rallying workers together and representing their interests, or does it mean that unions must align with other unions, no matter what?
To Denver Fire Fighters Local 858, Colorado’s largest local firefighters’ union, solidarity means doing the will of its members, regardless of what officials in other unions say — and it is going to court to defend that principle.
Local 858 represents Denver’s more than 1,000 firefighters and EMS workers. Over the past two years, its members repeatedly voted to cut ties with a statewide union, Colorado Professional Fire Fighters, that many believe no longer serves them.
But the state union is refusing to recognize their decision, and it recently demanded local firefighters pay a nearly $400,000 union dues bill Local 858 doesn’t believe it owes.
Local 858 has asked the court to affirm that it validly disaffiliated from the state union and make clear Denver firefighters do not have to pay the money the state union is demanding.
This was no easy decision for Local 858. It had been affiliated with the state union since 1946. But in recent years, its membership increasingly questioned whether that relationship was still worthwhile.
Denver firefighters were sending the state union almost $250,000 in dues each year while receiving what many members believed to be too little value and too little representation in return.
Although Local 858 is the largest by far of the state union’s nearly 70 local affiliates across Colorado, the state union limits each local to a maximum of 12 delegate votes. Local 858’s leadership estimates that representation based on membership would give the Denver local about 20 delegate votes, meaning more of a say in how the state union used members’ money.
Local 858’s executive board first voted in September 2024 to stop sending dues to the state union and then voted in November 2024 to disaffiliate permanently. In a March 2025 referendum, 59% of participating members confirmed their decision to leave the state union.
When the state union and the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) — the umbrella union with which both the state and local unions are affiliate — refused to recognize these votes, Local 858 held yet another to confirm its disaffiliation decision. This time, 70% of participating members voted to leave the state union.
Local 858 is only ending its affiliation with the statewide union. It is not seeking to stop representing Denver firefighters or leave the international union. But no matter how many times Denver firefighters affirmed their decision to disaffiliate, state and international union officials found a reason to disregard it.
In May, the state union sent Local 858 a bill for $388,936.93, which it claims covers dues dating back to September 2024. However, the state union has not provided any basis for claiming the local owes it money, according to Local 858’s lawsuit. Local 858 is represented by the Fairness Center, the nonprofit, public-interest law firm where I serve as president and general counsel.
Meanwhile, the international union argues that Local 858’s votes did not comply with a provision in the IAFF constitution. But Local 858 disputes that this provision applies to disaffiliation.
According to the lawsuit, no binding rule requires the local to remain affiliated with the state union after it voted to leave.
Though rare, one union cutting ties with another is not unprecedented — even among firefighters’ unions.
In 2016, the firefighters’ union in New Haven, Connecticut, voted to leave its statewide affiliate after concluding the benefits of affiliation did not justify the cost. The state union similarly refused to accept the local’s decision and even hired a collections agency to recover more than $52,000 it claimed the local owed.
The Fairness Center represented the New Haven local union, which won a ruling upholding its independence and reached a settlement that resulted in the local not paying any fees to the statewide.
As in Connecticut, statewide and international union officials may disagree with the Denver firefighters’ decision. But Local 858 believes its first duty is to Denver firefighters — not another union — and they are asking the court to affirm their right to determine their own destiny.
Westword.com frequently publishes opinion pieces and commentaries on matters of interest to the Denver community; the opinions presented belong solely to the authors, not Westword. Have one you’d like to submit? Send it to editorial@westword.com, where you can also comment on this essay.
