City begins contract talks with employees

A union representing about 26 city employees is seeking better pay and benefits as contract negotiations begin.

Both sides acknowledge that a tight city budget will affect the negotiations.

"We've got very little money, so you've got a tough job," Havre Mayor Bob Rice told the City Council's Labor Relations Committee on Monday night.

Darren Johnson, president of Local 336 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, acknowleged that the union won't get the 6 percent raise it has asked for.

"That's not going to happen. We know that," he said Tuesday.

The Labor Relations...