Collective Bargaining Process in Montana State Government
Who represents the Governor and state managers in collective bargaining?
The chief of the State Office of Labor Relations is designated through statute and Executive Order 40-2008 to represent all agencies of the executive branch in collective bargaining with representatives of certified collective bargaining units (Attorney General's Opinion 37, Vol. 38). State Office of Labor Relations staff, agency human resource officers, and state managers form the management teams that negotiate bargaining agreements with individual collective bargaining units.
What issues do the state and its employee unions bargain?
The state is obligated under Montana law to bargain over questions of wages, hours, fringe benefits, and other working conditions. Although many of the benefits state employees receive are established by law (e.g., sick and annual leave), many others must be negotiated. Examples include premium, differential, or holiday pay, and allowances for tools or uniforms. It's a little trickier identifying what constitutes a mandatory subject of bargaining under the catch-all of "other working conditions." We typically consider issues such as work rules, training, uniforms, and workload as "working conditions."
State managers are wise to consult with their agency personnel officers or labor negotiator from the State Office of Labor Relations when considering any change in employment policy that may constitute a unilateral change in a mandatory subject of bargaining. Unilateral implementation of policy changes could result in the bargaining agent filing charges of unfair labor practices against the employer.
How are state employees' pay and benefits negotiated?
The State Office of Labor Relations and state employee unions engage in two phases of bargaining - "economic negotiations" and "contract negotiations." Any negotiated pay increases for employees are included in House Bill 13 and are subject to approval of the Montana Legislature. The parties meet in economic negotiations biennially to bargain pay and benefits with the goal of reaching agreement before the executive budget is finalized.
Most of the state's 64 collective bargaining agreements expire in the June following the legislative session. Representatives from the State Office of Labor Relations, agency managers, union representatives, and bargaining unit employees negotiate successor agreements around this time. These contract negotiations typically focus on matters such as additional pay adjustments, seniority, scheduling, clothing allowances, and recruitment and selection procedures.
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