The city’s firefighters union is being sued by the Pennsylvania attorney general after it used an allegedly fraudulent promotional firm to solicit charitable donations.

Butler Local 114 is part of a lawsuit, along with other firefighter unions, Sharon Local 417, McKeesport Local 10, New Castle Local 160, for hiring Encore Music Productions of Boardman, Ohio, to solicit funds without registering as charitable organizations.

The unions also are being sued because Encore is not registered to solicit donations in Pennsylvania.

But there is a bigger lawsuit the attorney general filed against Encore.

According to the lawsuit, telemarketers for Encore would tell potential donors that 100 percent of donations would go to firefighters, but the unions would actually only get 10 percent to 33 percent.

Telemarketers also would falsely claim to be local firefighters while soliciting funds.

More than 20 telemarketers for the company are convicted felons, which is illegal.

Joseph Peters, the communications director with the attorney general’s office, said it was necessary to bring the unions into the lawsuit.

“We’re not anti-firefighter or anti-union,” he said. “But the attorney general is committed to protecting consumers.”

Peters emphasized that the firefighters are not under criminal investigation.

“We’re not alleging any criminal activities against the firefighters,” he said.

Don Crawford, the vice president of Butler 114, said the union was unaware of Encore’s allegedly fraudulent activities.

“We didn’t know any of that was going on,” he said. “Everything had always been professional with them.”

Crawford said the union began working with the firm in 2008.

“We’ve had no issues with them,” he said.

Crawford said the firm has helped the fire department put on its annual concert, including this year’s concert on Nov. 15.

A representative from the firm would meet with the union on a weekly basis to go over ticket sales.

Crawford said the annual concert draws about 600 people, with tickets being about $20 each.

He said the union keeps a portion of that money, while the rest is split between production fees, such as paying for the band and advertising, and the promotion firm.

Crawford said the union used another promotional firm before Encore, which was recommended to the Butler firefighters by another union.

Crawford also said no one in the union was aware of the need to register as a charity, nor did they know Encore was not registered to solicit in the state.

“We had no clue about that,” he said.

Peters said it is the union’s responsibility to know who is soliciting for them.

“Since Butler retained them, they take on the responsibility of their solicitor,” he said. “This is to keep the playing field even for those who solicit legally.”

Peters said the case should be a warning for other unions.

“This is an opportunity to educate and make aware the need to retain qualified companies,” he said. “And it will let firefighters know they need to take on those responsibilities.”

Peters said Butler could potentially face a $1,000 fine for each violation in the case.

From 2008 to 2012, Encore received more than $286,000 in commissions from the four fire unions, though it is not known at this time how much came from each union.