Mont. Code Ann. » TITLE 39. LABOR · CHAPTER 31. COLLECTIVE BARGAINING FOR PUBLIC EMPLOYEES · Part 2. Public Employee Self-Organization and Certification of Bargaining Representative
Montana Code Annotated

Mont. Code Ann. § 39-31-201 (2026)

Public Employees Protected In Right Of Self-Organization

✓ current as of May 2026
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  1. MCA Contents
  2. TITLE 39
  3. CHAPTER 31
  4. Part 2
  5. 39-31-201 Public employees protected in right of self-organization

TITLE 39. LABOR

CHAPTER 31. COLLECTIVE BARGAINING FOR PUBLIC EMPLOYEES

Part 2. Public Employee Self-Organization and Certification of Bargaining Representative

Public Employees Protected In Right Of Self-Organization

39-31-201. Public employees protected in right of self-organization. Public employees shall have and shall be protected in the exercise of the right of self-organization, to form, join, or assist any labor organization, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing on questions of wages, hours, fringe benefits, and other conditions of employment, and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection free from interference, restraint, or coercion.

History: En. Sec. 3, Ch. 441, L. 1973; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 244, L. 1974; R.C.M. 1947, 59-1603(1).

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 12 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1979–2026 · leading case: City of Billings v. Billings Firefighters Local No. 521, 651 P.2d 627 (Mont. 1982).
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City of Billings v. Billings Firefighters Local No. 521, 651 P.2d 627 (Mont. 1982). · cites it 24× “" Only public employees are allowed to bargain collectively, section 39-31-201, MCA. Thus, supervisory and management employees were effectively denied membership in collective bargaining units.”
Winchester v. Mountain Line, 1999 MT 134 (Mont. 1999). · cites it 6× “Hence, Winchester claimed that Mountain Line violated § 39-31-201, MCA, which provides: *525 Public employees shall have and shall be protected in the exercise of the right of self-organization, to form, join, or assist any labor organization, to bargain collectively through…”
Savage Educ. Ass'n v. Trs. of Richland Cnty. Elementary Dist. 7, 692 P.2d 1237 (Mont. 1984). · cites it 6× “Section 39-31-201, MCA. Statutes which govern the bargaining process between public employers and their employees are found in Chapter 31, Part 3 of Title 39 of the Montana Code Annotated.”
Martin v. Montezuma-Cortez Sch. Dist. Re-1, 841 P.2d 237 (Colo. 1992). · cites it 2× “200 (b) (1990) (prohibiting police, fire, correctional facility and hospital facility employees from striking); Haw.”
Ford v. Univ. of Montana, 598 P.2d 604 (Mont. 1979). · cites it 6× “Section 39-31-201 MCA referred to in the provision is the statute protecting the right of public employees to self-organize.”
Teamsters, Local 45 v. State Ex Rel. Bd. of Pers. Appeals, 635 P.2d 1310 (Mont. 1981). · cites it 3× “” Section 39-31-201, MCA. Likewise, section 9 of the NLRA, 29 USC § 159 , the section the NLRB found gives rise to the duty of fair representation, is very similar to our own section 39-31-205, MCA, when augmented with subsection 39-31-208(5), MCA.”
LaFournaise v. Montana Developmental Ctr., 2003 MT 240 (Mont. 2003). · cites it 4× “See § 39-31-201, MCA. Here, as noted above, LaFournaise is a member of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 971, and the union has a CBA-covering its members-with MDC.”
McBroom v. MT Bd. of Pers., 2025 MT 64 (Mont. 2025). · cites it 2× “2 of Winchester’s CBA provided: “any alleged violation of [. . .] State statutes shall be processed through the appropriate Federal and State agency(s) and will not be subject to the grievance and arbitration procedures as set forth in [the CBA].”
Missoula Cnty. High Sch. Dist. v. Bd. of Pers. Appeals, 727 P.2d 1327 (Mont. 1986). · cites it 6× “Section 39-31-201, MCA, provides: Public employees shall have and shall be protected in the exercise of the right of self-organization, to form, join, or assist any labor organization, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing on questions of wages,…”
Pope v. DOC, 2026 MT 94 (Mont. 2026). · cites it 3× “¶27 We do not address the issue of whether the Union breached its duty of fair representation on the merits, but rather pursuant to the summary judgment standard as a necessary prerequisite to Pope’s claims against the DOC.”
Mt. Pub. Employees Ass N v. Dept. (Mont. 1985). · cites it 3× “Section 39-31-201, MCA. Supervisory and mana.”
Unit Clarification No. 6-80 v. Dep't of Admin., 703 P.2d 862 (Mont. 1985). · cites it 3× “” Next, pursuant to national labor policy, as set forth in the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 151 , et seq. (1976), the Montana Act specifically excludes supervisory and management employees from the definition of “public employee.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.