From today’s International Association of Firefighters:
After a tough fight in the Montana State Senate, two bills attempting to strip fire fighters and other public employees of important labor protection are officially dead.
Senate Bill 94, introduced by Senator John Fuller (R), and Senate Bill 277, led by Senate President Matt Regier (R), were defeated last week, with the latter not even making it out of its committee of jurisdiction.
SB 277 called for ending automatic union dues deductions for Montana public employees. Worker advocates across the state, including the Montana State Council of Professional Fire Fighters (MSCOPFF), pushed back against the bill, citing it as a blatant attack on organized labor. When the Senate’s Business, Labor, and Economic Affairs Committee put SB 277 up for consideration before the committee, Senators voted 11-1 to table the bill.
While SB 277 was swiftly defeated, SB 94 made it further along in the legislative process. The bill would have enacted a series of anti-worker reforms to the state’s labor laws, including restricting the use of public buildings for union activity, ending employee compensation for union-related work, and limiting labor’s ability to recruit new members.
But when SB 94 did make it to the Senate floor, it found little support before the full chamber. A bipartisan group of 31 Senators voted to table the 2nd reading of the bill, officially ending its chances of becoming law this session.
The MSCOPFF played a critical role in lobbying against these misguided pieces of legislation and rallying opposition among lawmakers and advocates.
“My team and I have spent years building relationships with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle here in Montana. We’ve worked hard to help them understand the vital role we play as fire fighters and why the worker protections we have are essential to keeping both us and our communities safe. Those relationships paid off during this fight, and we were proud to see both SB 94 and SB 277 face bipartisan opposition,” said MSCOPFF President George Richards.
Read the complete story here.