Mashantucket appeals NLRB union decision

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096416921

Posted: March 28, 2008
by: Gale Courey Toensing / Indian Country Today

MASHANTUCKET, Conn. - The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation has taken the next step in the struggle to maintain tribal sovereignty over gaming at Indian casinos.

The nation has appealed National Labor Relations Board Administrative Law Judge Raymond Green's March 11 decision to uphold a United Auto Workers election, held Nov. 24 at Foxwoods Resort Casino, in which dealers voted 1,289 - 852 to unionize under federal labor law rather than tribal labor law.

The 37-page appeal was filed March 25 with the NLRB in Washington.

The UAW had rejected the tribal nation's request prior to the vote to file the petition under tribal labor law.

Although the appeal deals largely with procedural issues, the tribal nation said it is reserving its right to continue to challenge the NLRB's assertion that it has jurisdiction over gaming on sovereign tribal land, an issue that the board dismissed on several occasions. The case has national implications and is being closely monitored by tribes and unions.

''It is no small understatement to note that the Board's decision to, in certain cases, assert jurisdiction over some Native American enterprises has not been well-received by Native American Tribes. The actions and decisions of the Regional Director and Administrative Law Judge in this case also send the unconscionable message that Tribes cannot even expect to receive the same due process as other entities,'' the nation's three attorneys, from the Atlanta-based firm of Kilpatrick Stockton LLP, wrote.

FULL story at link.