Foxwoods Union Agrees To Negotiate Under Tribal Law

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.courant.com/business/hc-foxwoods1101.artnov01,0,6769905.story

By ERIC GERSHON
November 1, 2008

The union representing about 2,600 table game dealers at Foxwoods Resort Casino has agreed to negotiate a labor contract under tribal law, despite a string of victories in the union's yearlong legal fight to negotiate under U.S. law.

In a joint statement Friday, the United Auto Workers and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, which owns Foxwoods, said they have suspended their battle in the U.S. courts in favor of attempting a deal under the tribe's own laws.

Dealers at Foxwoods voted to form a UAW-affiliated bargaining unit a year ago. Casino management has refused to bargain under federal guidelines, arguing that the Pequots are a sovereign nation that is not subject to those rules.

The dealers have gone without a contract during the dispute and were facing the prospect of going without one indefinitely. The casino gave every indication that it would forestall negotiations until it ran out of legal appeals against the National Labor Relations Board, which certified the union.

Jonathan Cutler, a scholar of organized labor at Wesleyan University, said the UAW's decision to negotiate under tribal law could turn out better for the union than for the workers it represents.

Any deal the union makes (and the members approve) would generate dues for the UAW, Cutler said. But the union might not be able to win as strong a contract under tribal law as under U.S. law because the laws of many tribes prohibit union strikes.

FULL story at link.