Two Bills Targeting Organized Labor Die at the Montana Legislature

Two pieces of legislation aimed at weakening organized labor were voted down recently in the Montana Legislature, and a bill to implement right-to-work provisions is now facing an uncertain future as it approaches its initial committee hearing.

On Feb. 21, Senate President Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, asked the Senate Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee to table his own Senate Bill 277, which would have prevented public employers from automatically deducting union dues from paychecks. The committee granted Regier’s request Monday.

“There’s a lot of times in this building we have good ideas, but not the right timing,” Regier said during his brief testimony. “This bill has some good ideas, but I think timing could be a little better.”

In an interview with Montana Free Press on Monday, Regier said that while he couldn’t line up the votes to pass the bill out of committee in time, he remained confident in the bill’s intent and hopeful that similar legislation might find success in the future.

SB 277 exited the Montana Legislature on the heels of Senate Bill 94, legislation from Sen. John Fuller, R-Kalispell, that would have aimed to prevent public employers from compensating workers for time spent on union-related activities. Floor debate in the Senate last week over SB 94 concluded in a 21-29 defeat.

All 18 Senate Democrats, who are in the minority, voted against the bill. In addition to the faction of nine Republicans who have at times bucked the rest of their party and leadership through this session, Sen. John Esp, R-Big Timber, and Sen. Mike Yakawich, R-Billings, also voted against the legislation.

“I am supporting my district, where there is a large population of labor workers, both Republican and Democrat,” Yakawich said in an interview with Montana Free Press on Feb. 20. Esp declined to comment.

During SB 94’s nearly two-hour committee hearing in January, union advocates disputed proponents’ narrative that the government unjustly subsidizes political agendas by compensating workers for labor-related activities. Twenty-six union members, lobbyists and private citizens testified against the bill. Private citizens, academics, foundations and think tanks made up the bill’s nine proponents. 

Darin Gaub, the director of Montana’s chapter of the State Freedom Caucus Network, argued on-the-clock union members testifying at the hearing embodied the kind of state-sanctioned political advocacy he opposed.

“Every one of those opponents should write every proponent a check for $50. And if they disagree with that statement, I would welcome them to the proponent side,” Gaub said. “I also suspect there would be many more proponents here in support of this bill, but they have to work.”

Al Ekblad, a longtime Montana labor advocate, testified against the bill on behalf of Operating Engineers 400.

“There [are] efficiencies that come with the relationship that has been built between public employers and our members, just as there [are] in the private sector,” Ekblad said. “I would ask that you do not pass this bill. If it’s not broke, as my daddy used to say, don’t fix it.”

This session’s iteration of the biennial right-to-work effort brought by conservative Republicans will be heard in the Senate Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee in the coming weeks. A similar bill died in committee in 2023, though right-to-work legislation stayed alive until a vote on the House floor in 2021. Twenty-six states across the country, including Montana’s neighbors, have codified some form of right-to-work policy. This year’s bill is Senate Bill 376, from Sen. Mark Noland, R-Bigfork.

Amanda Curtis, president of Montana Federation of Public Employees, took heart in the defeat of SB 94 and SB 277, but said she remained vigilant in the face of persistence of anti-labor efforts. 

“It’s not over till it’s sine die,” Curtis said, using a common phrase that refers to the last day of the legislative session.

Jason Small, the executive secretary of the Montana AFL-CIO who previously served in the Legislature as a Republican senator from Busby, said he anticipates SB 376 will face opposition similar to SB 94 and SB 277.

“They’re unpopular with the public. They’re unpopular with the Legislature,” Small said. 

Hours after the Senate Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee tabled SB 277 on Monday, Noland, its chair, said he remained intent on carrying the right-to-work bill.

“I’m still gonna do it,” Noland said.

Henry Kriegel, a legislative liaison with Montana’s chapter of Americans for Prosperity, said AFP will advocate for SB 376 for the same reasons it endorsed SB 94 and SB 277.

Kriegel said AFP supports the rights of unions to organize, gather and advocate for their membership.

“We just believe it should be done freely,” Kriegel said. 

On Feb. 17, organized labor advocates gathered on the steps of the Capitol with the temperature hovering around 6 degrees. After a little more than an hour outdoors, rally attendees moved inside to eat lunch alongside legislators. 

Though those advocates had access to legislators to bend their ears, Kriegel said that lawmakers should represent the people, many of whom aren’t able to make trips to the Capitol during working hours. 

“It’s not about the sheer number of people that you’re able to rally to the Capitol, although I do believe that has an emotional impact and it does pressure legislators,” Kriegel said. “I champion the rights of people to go and freely speak. I cherish that First Amendment right. But a legislator can’t base their opinion solely on that.”

Even after the deaths of SB 94 and SB 277, Kriegel remains optimistic that his organization’s vision of a more fair and equitable workplace is on the horizon.

“I am never discouraged,” Kriegel said. “Never.”

This story originally appeared in the Montana Free Press, which can be found online at montanafreepress.org.