Montana's Labor Newsletter - April 4
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- Apr 4
- 4 min read
MONTANA LEGISLATURE - TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT WORKING FAMILIES
SB 345 is a gift to insurance companies — at workers’ expense
Montana workers are already at a disadvantage when navigating the workers’ comp system, and SB 345 would make it even worse.
If passed, SB 345 would:
• Allow insurance-picked doctors to overrule treating physicians
• Force injured workers to travel long distances for exams—or risk losing benefits
• Add unnecessary barriers for people who are already hurting
This bill would give insurance companies more power to deny care by overriding treating physicians—the doctors who actually know and care for injured workers. It would also force workers to travel anywhere the insurer demands, even out of state, just to be examined by someone with no history or relationship with the patient.
DECISIONS IN WASHINGTON LEADING TO HISTORIC UNCERTAINTY FOR WORKING FAMILIES
Workers across Montana are facing deepening uncertainty about the future following big announcements from the federal government over the last month.
Last week, President Trump signed an executive order attacking the collective bargaining rights of over one million federal employees and putting the rights of hundreds of thousands of American civil servants—nearly one-third of whom are veterans—at risk.
Federal workers help fuel Montana’s economy. The order to gut federal unions will harm critical services across the state and create uncertainty for many federal workers and local economies, including workers who process social security checks and who provide healthcare services to veterans in Montana. The Trump administration has also attempted to fire workers with the forest service, including smoke jumpers, forest rangers, and the men and women who keep our public lands healthy and accessible
Montana relies on these critical industries, and the hardworking men and women who power them, to create jobs and serve our communities. The federal government has proposed to cut 80,000 jobs from the VA and is planning on closing social security offices across the country, including here in Montana, creating uncertainty for workers and communities. Last week, several agencies were ordered to rehire fired probationary employees after the terminations were found to be illegal but these decisions are being appealed to the Supreme Court
These actions undermine the working people who make sure our food is safe to eat, care for our veterans and protect our public lands. We need policies that support working families, the services we rely on, and the workers that make our communities thrive.
LABOR AND ECONOMIC NEWS IMPACTING MONTANA THIS WEEK
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler condemned the Trump administration's decision to eliminate nearly 900 jobs at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), calling the move “devastating” for worker safety. “Every worker should be able to go home safe and healthy at the end of their shift—but the Trump administration is gutting NIOSH,” Shuler said in a statement.
On Tuesday, massive layoffs at the Department of Health and Human Services (DHS) were expected to result in 873 staff cuts from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), according to CBS News. This agency conducts research and makes recommendations to prevent workplace injuries and illnesses.
The Associated Press is reporting thousands of employees within the U.S. Health and Human Services Department received layoff notices Tuesday. Some are with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which oversees health and safety for many workers, including coal miners.
In another move among many to vastly expand the power of the presidency, Trump issued an executive order last week that is the most aggressive attack on collective bargaining the nation has ever seen. If the action withstands judicial challenges, it will cancel legally binding union contracts covering a large swath of federal employees in many agencies that would no longer recognize union representation. Trump’s order would eliminate collective bargaining agreements in about three dozen agencies across the government.
“Improving government efficiency is essential—but sweeping exclusions from collective bargaining are a blunt instrument that risk weakening the very stability and performance we aim to strengthen,” Fitzpatrick said in a statement. “The Protect America’s Workforce Act restores a balanced, targeted approach—protecting bargaining rights where they pose no threat to national security and reinforcing their proven role in supporting morale, accountability and effective governance. We can defend our national security without silencing those who serve it.”
A federal judge in Maryland has ordered the Trump administration to continue reinstating probationary federal employees that were fired from 20 federal agencies since the president took office earlier this year, a ruling related to a lawsuit filed by a coalition of attorneys general challenging the legality of those terminations. In a preliminary injunction order filed late Tuesday, U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar also barred the administration from conducting future layoffs of probationary workers at the affected agencies — unless those layoffs comply with the laws regulating such an action.
The northern border states will also be affected by oil and gas tariffs, as the majority of American crude oil and electricity imports all come from Canada. In the Mountain West border state of Montana, for example, 92 percent of imports are sourced from Canada.
The Grace Carroll Rocky Mountain Labor School is the most comprehensive and dynamic training program for labor leadership development.
Develop skills through a broad range of hands on classes
Learn best practices for building power in the workplace
Meet fellow workers from locals, unions and state federations across the west
Build solidarity with fellow union activists!
No matter the role you play in your local union, the skills and knowledge provided throughout the week will make you a stronger and more informed activist in your workplace.
ARE YOU A UNION MEMBER? Talk to your local today about attending the Grace Carroll Rocky Mountain Labor School this summer in Nevada.
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