Background and union terminology

AFMSU (Associated Faculty of Montana State University) is the university-level component of the union.  MEA-MFT (Montana Education Association-Montana Federation of Teachers), the state-level component of the union, is primarily concerned with K-12 issues. The two national components of the union are the AFT (American Federation of Teachers) and NEA (National Education Association). NEA is the largest labor union in the United States. 90% of our dues and representation fees go to these state and national organizations.

The main function of AFMSU is to negotiate with Administration on matters related to   compensation, benefits, and working conditions, and to have the results written into a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Items that have been written into the CBA are said by the union to have been “secured”, as defined in a public union forum on December 13, 2012; ”secured” means that both sides agreed to include an item in the CBA, whether or not AFMSU negotiated  improvements over Administration offers. AFMSU also uses the term “transparent” to mean that a process or outcome is open to the public and easy to understand. The CBA can be found here.