Montana Federation of Public Employees members rally at Capitol
Keila Szpaller
(Daily Montanan) “Union busting bills” and a school voucher bill that threatened to siphon $100 million from public schools were on the table earlier this session, said Amanda Curtis, president of the Montana Federation of Public Employees.
And back in February, the state pay play wasn’t scheduled for a hearing in the Senate yet, she said.
But despite snowstorms and single digit temperatures, union members showed up to engage with lawmakers, Curtis said.
“Because we broke bread and had thoughtful, one-on-one conversations with legislators of both parties, we won,” Curtis told a few dozen rally-goers.
She said union members helped push off unfriendly bills and pulled the pay plan forward.
At a rally Friday at the Capitol with, at most, 18 days left in the session, Curtis praised the work union members had done, including 22 MFPE members who serve in the Montana Legislature.
The MFPE is the largest union in the state with more than 20,000 members.
Rep. Eric Matthews, D-Bozeman, said the legislature has passed the pay plan, and it’s a fair one. Matthews, a teacher, said the STARS Act, a comprehensive bill addressing starting teacher pay, still needs to pass, but it’s a positive proposal.
The Student and Teacher Advancement for Results and Success Act, House Bill 252, passed the House 88-9 and is making its way through the Senate.
“We still have to get the STARS Act out, which will definitely help the education system across Montana,” Matthews said.
Rep. Denise Baum, D-Billings, said Montana’s pensions are healthy, and they need to resist attacks. She said 73% of public employees report they would be more likely to leave their work if their pensions are cut.
Baum, a recently retired detective with the Billings Police Department, also urged Gov. Greg Gianforte to sign Senate Bill 7, which she said helps correct a wrong from last session.
The bill revises the retirement criteria for some law enforcement officers.
Instead of being eligible after 20 years of service and at the age of 50, it allows an officer to tap their retirement after reaching just one of the criteria.
The bill passed the legislature and is headed to Gianforte’s desk. A spokesperson for the Governor’s Office did not respond to an email for comment about the governor’s planned action.
Rep. Jill Cohenour, D-Helena, praised increases in the pay plan, including a minimum $10,400 for employees working for the state of Montana and the university system over the course of three years, “raises exceeding anything that has been there in the past two decades.”
“Hear me when I say that public employees in Montana deserve the pay plans that we have negotiated,” Cohenour said. “We deserve so much more.
“We are the people that Montanans go to when they need help starting a business, when they’re trying to find a job, when they’re trying to get back on their feet, when their roads need plowed, and when they’re experiencing a health crisis. We make families successful in communities across Montana.”
At the rally, Curtis also encouraged other union members to run for office in the future, even though “22 member legislators may be unheard of.”
“We need reinforcements in 2027, and it doesn’t matter what party you identify with,” Curtis said.
“If you believe that public service is a public good, if you believe that we must support public employees, if you believe that working people should have a voice and protections at work, we need you in this Capitol building.”