Denver Fire Fighters Local 858 Sues State Union to Affirm Disaffiliation, Stop $400K Dues Demand

Colorado’s statewide firefighters’ union refuses to respect Denver union’s decision to leave, lawsuit alleges.

August 11, 2026, Denver Co.—Denver Fire Fighters Local 858, the union representing more than 1,000 Denver firefighters and EMS personnel, has filed a lawsuit alleging the statewide firefighters’ union refuses to recognize its disaffiliation from the state union and is demanding roughly $400,000 for dues the local union says it doesn’t owe.

Local 858 had been affiliated with the state union, Colorado Professional Fire Fighters (CPFF), since the local’s founding in 1946. But in recent years, some Denver firefighters began questioning whether the state union was providing enough value to justify sending it almost $250,000 a year in dues.

Local 858’s executive board voted in late 2024 to stop sending dues to the state union, then its membership voted twice to disaffiliate. In the most recent vote, Local 858 supported leaving the state union with 70 percent of the vote.

But the state union will not acknowledge Local 858’s decision to cut ties with it. This past May, the state union sent Local 858 a bill demanding more than a year and a half of dues that it claims Local 858 owes, totaling $388,936.93. According to Local 858’s lawsuit, the state union has provided no basis for claiming the local owes this money.

The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), which represents firefighters across North America and to which both the state and local unions belong, also refuses to recognize Local 858’s disaffiliation from the state union. The international union is named as a defendant in the lawsuit as well.

Denver Union Officials Issue Statements

“Local 858’s executive board and members voted democratically to stop paying the dues and end our affiliation with the state union,” said Chris Ferguson, Local 858 president and 15-year Denver firefighter. “To me, that should have settled it. But state and international union officials refuse to accept our decision and want to keep control of our money. As Local 858’s president, my job is to stand up for our members—and that is exactly what I will do, even if it means taking the state and international unions to court.”

“When I was elected to the leadership of Local 858, I took an oath that ‘I will dutifully abide by and promote the positions taken by the majority,” said Devin Hallock, Local 858 secretary-treasurer and 9-year Denver firefighter. “Our members have voted repeatedly and decisively to cut ties with the state union, yet state and international union officials continue to disregard their voice. Ignoring the membership’s repeated vote undermines the democratic process and violates the trust our members have placed in us to defend their voice. It would also mean continuing to send nearly a quarter of a million dollars of their hard-earned money each year to an organization they have determined no longer provides the representation, service, or value they expect and deserve.”

Local 858’s Legal Argument

In rejecting Local 858’s multiple votes confirming its separation from the state union, the international union claimed that the local did not follow procedures outlined in Article XIV, Section 11 of the IAFF’s constitution and bylaws. However, the local argues that those documents outline no such procedure for disaffiliation.

According to Local 858’s complaint, “Local 858 was therefore free to disaffiliate from CPFF at any time and in any manner that was reasonably calculated to reflect the will of its membership.”

The lawsuit also argues that Local 858 had no obligation to pay dues to the state union after it disaffiliated.

“Neither the state union nor the International Association of Fire Fighters has identified any basis for forcing Denver firefighters to continue paying dues and remain affiliated,” said Anthony Holtzman, managing attorney for the Fairness Center, the nonprofit public interest law firm that represents Local 858. “State union officials cannot collect dues from a local union simply because they disagree with the members’ decision to leave.”

Denver Fire Fighters Local 858 v. Colorado Professional Fire Fighters & IAFF seeks declaratory relief affirming that it validly disaffiliated from CPFF and making clear that it doesn’t owe the state union the money it is demanding.

Similar Case

This is not the first time a state firefighters’ union has attempted to prevent a local union from disaffiliating. In 2016, New Haven Fire Fighters Local 825 of Connecticut voted to leave a statewide union that it believed didn’t represent members’ interests—only for the state union to ignore its decision and demand $52,000 for dues it claimed the local owed. The Fairness Center represented Local 825 in a lawsuit that, in 2019, upheld its independence and ended with the local paying the state union nothing.

Plaintiffs and Fairness Center attorneys are available for comment. Please contact us at media@fairnesscenter.org or 844.293.1001 to schedule an interview.

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The Fairness Center is a nonprofit, public interest law firm offering free legal services to those hurt by public-sector union officials. For more information visit www.FairnessCenter.org.