A contract has been reached between the Montana Federation of Public Employees (MFPE) and Yellowstone County.
According to Human Resources Director Dwight Vigness the union has agreed to a three-year contract, the primary focus of which is to raise worker wages at lower levels to the mid-point range of the pay scale. The agreement comes after the two parties entered into arbitration in mid-December, after having negotiated for ten weeks prior to that.
In the first year lower level wages will increase 85 cents and higher levels will increase 60 cents.
In the second and third years, lower level wages will increase 3.25 percent and higher levels will increase 2.75 percent.
The pay increase for this year will be paid retroactively, and employees will receive a one-time lump sum payment, for the increase since the termination of the last contract.
Other issues were also resolved. The county will continue to pay employees twice monthly rather than changing to a two-week pay schedule, as the union originally requested.
Another issue had to do with the Janus court decision, which made clear that employees have a choice about joining the union. County administrators wanted employees to sign a document giving them the authority to deduct union dues from their paychecks. Vigness said that the county reworded the document more to the union’s liking and the union is responsible for getting the employee’s signature.
