Montana Highway Patrol troopers will get a 10.5% raise under a contract their union recently reached with the state Department of Justice. During negotiations, the troopers eyed joining a national police union and leaving the state’s largest public employees union, but in the end didn’t jump ship.
According to an internal email reviewed by Montana Free Press, the cohort of troopers filed a petition with the state labor department in late September to decertify from the Montana Federation of Public Employees, the state’s largest union representing more than 20,000 government workers including teachers, nurses and city government employees. The Montana Department of Labor and Industry confirmed the petition was submitted. The troopers proposed contracting collective bargaining services from the Fraternal Order of Police, a nationwide coalition of law enforcement officers. The state Department of Labor and Industry declined to share the specific number of troopers who signed onto the effort, but the petition requires 30% of employees — which would be about 57 of the roughly 190 troopers — to support the effort.
The petition was withdrawn in late September after the bargaining team reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement with the Montana Department of Justice, which oversees MHP.
MFPE declined to comment on the petition to decertify. The Department of Labor and Industry initiated the protocol for decertification before the petition was withdrawn.
On Oct. 10, highway patrol troopers officially ratified their collective bargaining agreement with the justice department, according to MFPE spokesperson Sam Telling. The contract includes a 10.5% raise and back pay through July 1, when the previous collective bargaining agreement expired.
The 2025 Legislature allocated $5.4 million for Montana Highway Patrol trooper pay increases.
About two dozen law enforcement locals are affiliated with MFPE, in addition to Montana Highway Patrol, according to Telling.
The Fraternal Order of Police also has a presence in Montana — a handful of counties, mainly in northwest Montana, use the entity for collective bargaining services. Individual law enforcement officers are also eligible to join in exchange for specific benefits unrelated to union affairs. Montana-based representatives at the Fraternal Order of Police did not respond to requests for comment.
Montana Highway Patrol declined to comment on how the petition impacted negotiations.
This story was updated on Oct. 15, 2025, to indicate that the 2025 Legislature allocated $5.4 million for Montana Highway Patrol trooper pay increases.
This story was updated on Oct. 16, 2025, to correct the name of the trooper group that filed the petition.
This story was updated on Oct. 17, 2025, to include more detail about the number of state troopers who endorsed the effort to change unions.
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