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Montana Governor and Lt. Gov and Secretary of State Freeze Own Pay – Unions Ratify Negotiated Pay Freeze – University staff want $2-an-hour pay raise

Governor Brian Schweitzer announced that MEA-MFT, Montana Public Employee Association (MPEA) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) have ratified an agreement that freezes pay for most public employees.

At the same time the Governor announced that he and Lt. Governor John Bohlinger will not accept the salary increases they are scheduled for this year. Secretary of State Linda McCulloch also said today she will forgo her increase in pay.

“I am honored and proud to be part of this team of dedicated public employees,” said Governor Brian Schweitzer. “We are all in this together and the action today by the members of MEA-MFT, MPEA, AFSCME signals that we will get through this together. Our state employees are some of the hardest working in the nation.”

This pay plan will cover the 2010-2011 biennium, beginning July 1, 2009.

Full Story: http://governor.mt.gov/news/pr.asp?ID=636

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3 state-employee unions vote to freeze pay

By MIKE DENNISON Missoulian State Bureau

HELENA – A majority of three state-employee unions has voted to ratify a pay-plan agreement that freezes pay for many workers for the next two years and grants only a $450 lump-sum payment to those earning $45,000 or less annually.

Eric Feaver, president of MEA-MFT, which represents teachers, school employees, and state and local government employees, said the vote by his union members wasn’t close, as they recognize that the state and nation are facing an economic crisis.

“We wanted to do as much as we could to preserve jobs,” he said.

Full Story: http://missoulian.com/articles/2009/01/16/news/mtregional/news09.txt

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University staff want $2-an-hour pay raise

By CHELSI MOY of the Missoulian

The state’s largest university-employee union hopes to avoid salary freezes, and in fact wants to raise the entry-level wage for workers like custodians and clerical staff from $8.25 an hour to $10.32.

“The time is past to change this,” said Kathy Crego, representative of the Montana Public Employees Association. “We are in critical economic times and those who will suffer the most are the ones who are the most vulnerable.”

MPEA represents about 1,700 employees on nearly all of Montana’s college campuses. These are the grounds crews, dining service workers and departmental support staff.

Full Story: http://missoulian.com/articles/2009/01/17/bnews/br94.txt

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