BOZEMAN – Ballots are expected to be mailed Friday to more than 560 Montana State faculty members, who will decide if they want to form a union.
John Andrew of the state Board of Personnel Appeals, which is in charge of the election, said the secret ballots will be sent to two groups — the tenured and tenure-track faculty, as well as the adjunct instructors who teach on short-term contracts without tenure or job security. Only those working halftime or more can vote.
The groups will decide separately whether to form union bargaining units, said Kevin McRae, personnel and labor relations director for the office of the state commissioner of higher education. That means four possible outcomes could emerge — the formation of two unions, no unions, one union for tenured faculty only, or one for adjuncts only.
MSU faculty overwhelmingly rejected unionization in 1978 and 1989. But the MEA-MFT, the state’s largest union, has invested thousands of dollars and spent two years trying to organize MSU, the last state campus without a faculty union.
The ballots must be returned by 1 p.m., on April 14, to be counted.