Terms Used In Montana Code > Title 39 > Chapter 31 - Collective Bargaining for Public Employees

• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appropriate unit: means a group of public employees banded together for collective bargaining purposes as designated by the board. See Montana Code 39-31-103
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• Board: means the board of personnel appeals provided for in 2-15-1705. See Montana Code 39-31-103
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Confidential employee: means any person found by the board to be a confidential labor relations employee and any person employed in the personnel division, department of administration, who acts with discretionary authority in the creation or revision of state classification specifications. See Montana Code 39-31-103
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Exclusive representative: means the labor organization which has been designated by the board as the exclusive representative of employees in an appropriate unit or has been so recognized by the public employer. See Montana Code 39-31-103
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Impeachment: (1) The process of calling something into question, as in "impeaching the testimony of a witness." (2) The constitutional process whereby the House of Representatives may "impeach" (accuse of misconduct) high officers of the federal government for trial in the Senate.
• Joint resolution: A legislative measure which requires the approval of both chambers.
• Judicial officers: means justices of the supreme court, judges of the district courts, justices of the peace, municipal judges, and city judges. See Montana Code 1-1-202
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Labor organization: means any organization or association of any kind in which employees participate and which exists for the primary purpose of dealing with employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, fringe benefits, or other conditions of employment. See Montana Code 39-31-103
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Majority party: means the party with the most members in a house of the legislature, subject to subsection (2). See Montana Code 1-1-208
• Management official: means a representative of management having authority to act for the agency on any matters relating to the implementation of agency policy. See Montana Code 39-31-103
• Minority leader: See Floor Leaders
• Minority leader: means the leader of the minority party, elected by the caucus as provided in 5-2-221. See Montana Code 1-1-208
• Minority party: means the party with the second most members in a house of the legislature, subject to subsection (2). See Montana Code 1-1-208
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Person: includes one or more individuals, labor organizations, public employees, associations, corporations, legal representatives, trustees, trustees in bankruptcy, or receivers. See Montana Code 39-31-103
• Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Montana Code 1-1-202
• Public employee: means :

  (i)except as provided in subsection (9)(b), a person employed by a public employer in any capacity; and

  (ii)an individual whose work has ceased as a consequence of or in connection with any unfair labor practice or concerted employee action. See Montana Code 39-31-103

• Public employer: means the state of Montana or any political subdivision thereof, including but not limited to any town, city, county, district, school board, board of regents, public and quasi-public corporation, housing authority or other authority established by law, and any representative or agent designated by the public employer to act in its interest in dealing with public employees. See Montana Code 39-31-103
• Recess: A temporary interruption of the legislative business.
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Supervisory employee: means an individual having the authority on a regular, recurring basis while acting in the interest of the employer to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or discipline other employees or to effectively recommend the above actions if, in connection with the foregoing, the exercise of the authority is not of a merely routine or clerical nature but requires the use of independent judgment. See Montana Code 39-31-103
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Unfair labor practice: means any unfair labor practice listed in 39-31-401 or 39-31-402. See Montana Code 39-31-103
• Uphold: The decision of an appellate court not to reverse a lower court decision.
• Writing: includes printing. See Montana Code 1-1-203