Bozeman area legislators, a representative from the governor’s office, and others will join MEA-MFT and Montana Public Employees Assoc. leaders and staff to visit five public employee work sites in Bozeman.

Public employees at these sites will talk about the work they do and why it matters to Montana’s people and economy.

The Bozeman listening tour is the third in a series.  The first tours took place in Boulder, Helena, and Great Falls earlier this year.

The Bozeman tour will visit work sites at the state Dept. of Corrections Probation & Parole, Montana State University, Bozeman High School, Head Start, and the state Dept. of Revenue.

Dept. of Public Health & Human Services (DPHHS) Child Enforcement–Child Support Compliance Officers work to make sure children receive medical and financial support by establishing, enforcing, and increasing public awareness of parental obligations.

Great Falls Head Start–Head Start promotes school readiness by enhancing the social and cognitive development of children through the provision of educational, health, nutritional, social and other services to enrolled children and families.

Montana School for the Deaf and Blind–Montana School for the Deaf & Blind provides comprehensive educational services for Montana’s deaf, hard of hearing, blind, and visually impaired children.

Cascade County Attorney’s Office–Cascade County attorneys prosecute all criminal offenses committed in the County with the exception of municipal ordinance violations.  

Montana Probation and Parole Great Falls Office–Probation and Parole officers protect public safety by supervising convicted criminals in the community so that they can live law-abiding lives while holding jobs, paying taxes and supporting families.

The new phase was launched Thursday, January 21, 2010. About one hundred Montana public employees, state elected officials, and others gathered at a kick-off celebration in Helena that evening.

Randi Weingarten, a labor leader of international significance, attended the celebration. Weingarten is president of the American Federation of Teachers, a national union representing state and county employees, teachers and school support staff, higher education, and health care professionals.

AFT’s Montana affiliate, MEA-MFT, is a key member of the Work That Matters coalition.

Weingarten also joined MEA-MFT President Eric Feaver and public employees (members of both MEA-MFT and AFT) at a Work That Matters listening tour, visiting several local and state agencies in Boulder and Helena.

The tour began Thursday, Jan. 21, at the Jefferson County Sheriff’s office and courthouse, where county employees met with Weingarten and Feaver and talk about the work they do.

The tour continued Friday, Jan. 22, at the state Dept. of Public Health & Human Services, where Weingarten and Feaver met with state employees who test food and drinking water across the state to make sure it is safe.

The tour concluded at the Montana Historical Society, where public employees collect, preserve, and interpret Montana’s priceless history.

This latest phase of Work That Matters will continue throughout 2010. Watch for Work That Matters postcards, billboards, print ads, and more as the campaign unfolds.