Human Resource Services

Did You Know?

• There are nine bargaining units representing eligible staff at the University of Montana main campus and Missoula College
  • International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 

  • International Union of Operating Engineers Local 400 (Missoula College) 

  • International Union of Operating Engineers Local 400 (UM Campus) 

  • LUINA Local 1686 (formerly Montana District Council of Laborers) 

  • Montana Federation of Public Employees 

  • Montana University System Maintenance Painters Union 

  • Pacific Northwest Council of Carpenters 

  • Teamsters Union Local 2 (UM Motor Pool) 

  • United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 459 
• There are a variety of bargaining units representing employees across MUS campuses.

  While some represent the same or similar positions across the Montana University System, others are unique to one campus or group of positions.

• Union affiliation is determined by the unit determination established through the State Board of Personnel Appeals.

  University administration may not deviate from the approved unit determination unless negotiations between the union and the University System result in a mutual agreement to add or remove positions. 

  When each union initially petitioned the State Board of Personnel Appeals, that Board determined the appropriate bargaining unit by considering community of interest, wages, hours, fringe benefits, working conditions, history of collective bargaining, common supervision, common personnel policies, integration of work functions, and the desires of the employees, as defined under Montana law (39-31-202, M.C.A.). 

• Montana state law (39-31-201, M.C.A.) provides public employees the right to form or join a union, with a few exceptions.

  Public employees exempt from the right to join a union include: 

  • Confidential labor relations employees 

  • Management officials with authority to act on behalf of the University on matters relating to University policy 

  • Supervisory employees with authority to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or discipline other employees using independent judgment 

  Some collective bargaining agreements also have minimum FTE and length of employment requirements before an employee is covered by a particular union. 

• Once a position has been designated as union-affiliated, it may only become a non-union position in one of two ways.
  • The job duties change significantly and the position is reclassified to one that is no longer union-affiliated under the applicable exclusions, or 

  • The union bargaining representative agrees through negotiations to exclude the position from the unit. 
• All collective bargaining agreements must be negotiated and executed by the Commissioner of Higher Education on behalf of the Board of Regents.

  This is required by statute, which defines the Board of Regents as the public employer and the Commissioner of Higher Education as the Board's exclusive representative. This applies even to agreements covering only UM employees. 

  The Director of Labor Relations at the Commissioner's Office serves as chief negotiator for all staff collective bargaining sessions. The Employee & Labor Relations staff in HRS, along with management representatives from each affiliated campus, may serve as members of the management team during negotiations. The UM President delegates to these individuals the responsibility to represent the University of Montana's views to the broader management team.

• Negotiations between MFPE and the Montana University System employees are separate from negotiations between MFPE and other State of Montana Agencies.

  When the State negotiates with MFPE, those negotiations only affect union members employed by other State agencies such as the Department of Corrections, Department of Labor and Industry, and Department of Transportation. These negotiations are legally separate from those between MFPE and the Montana University System. No representative from the Commissioner's Office or any MUS campus participates in State-MFPE negotiations.

• Pay plan appropriations by the Legislature to the University System are based on the negotiated agreement between MFPE and the State of Montana, which does not cover the full cost of the pay plan for Montana University System staff.

  Historically this has funded only approximately 45 percent of the cost of the classified pay plan for University System employees in General Fund positions. No funding is appropriated for positions funded by designated, auxiliary, or grant sources. At the University of Montana, approximately 45 percent of staff positions are General Fund, meaning the Legislature funds only approximately 21 percent of the total cost of the pay plan for all University staff regardless of funding source.