The International Association of Firefighters has censured Butler Mayor Tom Donaldson in a statement.

“It was basically a formal way to condemn his actions and criticism,” said IAFF Local 114 President Jim Kaufman.

IAFF Local 114 represents the Butler Fire Department.

Written copies of the censure are being sent to Donaldson, the Butler County Republican Party, the Butler City Council, the Pennsylvania State Mayors’ Association, and the Butler County Labor Council.

It was passed at an IAFF convention in Las Vegas earlier this month.

The censure states that “Donaldson’s administration has attempted to implement civil service rules and regulations that conflict with provisions of Local 114’s collective bargaining agreement” and that “Local 114 and its members have spent thousands of dollars in legal fees defending members in grievance and arbitration proceedings.”

The civil service rules and regulations require hiring and promotions through testing. Local 114 filed a grievance with Butler, stating that these rules were in violation of the IAFF’s collective bargaining contract.

The grievance was settled by council in a 3-2 vote in April, with Donaldson voting against the settlement and calling it “illegal.” He refused to sign the agreement.

Following the settlement, Kaufman and Donald McCoy were promoted to captain and lieutenant, respectively, Donaldson abstained from voting, anticipating the council would be sued over the promotions.

Kaufman spoke on the collective bargaining agreement Friday.

“The contracts are the law of the land until the contracts expire and a new one is drafted,” he said.

The censure states that “Mayor Donaldson has publicly criticized the Butler City Fire Department and threatened that ‘total financial collapse’ will occur if the department does not cooperate.”

Donaldson has repeatedly said cuts need to be made to the fire department to get the city out of its financial woes.

The censure also notes that Donaldson demoted former fire chief Nick Ban without prior knowledge or consent of city council.

In April, Donaldson made the unilateral decision to demote Ban. Following an outcry from city council members, the demotion was suspended until an emergency meeting could be held, but Ban retired before that happened.

The censure also claims that Donaldson’s actions have led city employees to seek other employment or retire, though Kaufman did not say who those employees were.

Kaufman said he knows what not to expect from the censure.

“We know it’s not going to lead to anything other than maybe letting the public know how we feel about his actions and reference to this department in the past,” he said.

Donaldson reacted to the censure.

“It’s worthless,” he said. “It means nothing. It means that all people want to do is argue with me over making change.

“I’m not the first mayor to address issues there (in the fire department), but I’m the first mayor not to back down.”

He joked about it as well.

“Since they went to all that trouble to give me national recognition, I hope there’s some sort of plaque with it,” he said.

Councilwoman Kathy Kline, director of public safety, also commented on the censure.

“I think more than anything it justifies their thoughts and their feelings as to what transpired and the thought of the department because of the mayor being so vocal,” she said.