State employee bargaining update

Read MEA-MFT Today story on the pay plan.

Pay plan signed by governor
The state pay plan ratified by members of MEA-MFT and the Montana Public Employees Association (MPEA) has passed the Montana House of Representatives and the Senate. Governor Brian Schweitzer signed it into law Feb. 24.

Experienced lobbyists here cannot recall any pay plan passing any legislature this early in any session. By so doing, we have secured a reasonable, responsible pay package for state employees and moved it safely out of harm’s way before the pushing and shoving over k-12 public school funding began.

This member-negotiated agreement has been in the works for many months. By mail-in ballot, MEA-MFT members ratified it by an 89% vote on January 7; MPEA members by an 88% vote.

Click here to see the tentative agreement (this is a PDF file; you'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to see the file).

"This agreement is a small but important step toward recognizing the valuable work state employees do for Montanans," said MEA-MFT President Eric Feaver.

"It does not repair the damage done to state employees in the past, with 18 months of frozen salaries followed by an insulting 25-cent per hour raise. But it is a step toward a brighter future. And it is without doubt the best deal we will get at the present time.

MEA-MFT/MPEA bargaining team members committed themselves to doing something positive for our lowest paid employees. And they did.

In so doing, no state employee will do worse than 3.5 percent or $1,005 in the first year of the biennium and 4.0 percent or $1,118 in the second year.

This agreement will cost the state $36 million in general fund in the coming biennium.

"This is NOT small change," Feaver said. "Given what the governor and the state legislature have to spend on state programs, health care, university system, k-12 schools, and on and on, we have done very well indeed to pass this through the legislature."

Read news release on the ratified agreement.

Read previous prebudget bargaining updates