Hartford Courant, February 13, 2007, Tuesday

Hartford Courant

Unions Could Target State's Tribal Casinos
February 13, 2007
http://www.courant.com/business/hc-foxwoods0213.artfeb13,0,7823050.story?coll=hc-headlines-business



By MARK PETERS, Courant Staff Writer

Labor unions are poised to turn their attention to the state's massive tribal casinos now that a federal court has sided with dealers, cocktail servers and other gaming employees.

In particular, Foxwoods Resort Casino, which was the target of unsuccessful union organizing efforts in the past and has been the subject of recent employee unrest, could again become a focus, according to people familiar with the issue - including key state and union officials.

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"I think it's going to have an immediate effect. ... Unions will start getting in there," said State Sen. Edith Prague, D-Columbia, co-chairwoman of the labor committee, whose district includes Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled on Friday that tribes, though sovereign governments, must follow the National Labor Relations Act, which gives workers the right to organize and bargain collectively.

The ruling, which could end up at the U.S. Supreme Court, comes as some of Foxwoods' more than 11,000 employees have clashed with casino management over wages, benefits and working conditions. An anonymous group organized a sickout over the New Year's holiday. Casino management disbanded an employee council.

A website set up by disgruntled Foxwoods employees - www.madatfoxwoods.com - has comments posted on it about unionizing at the casino.

Organizing efforts at Foxwoods, chiefly by the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union in the late 1990s, failed. UNITE HERE, its successor union, has about 5,000 members at tribal casinos in California.

Connecticut AFL-CIO President John W. Olsen says his office is receiving inquires from various locals about organizing at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, which both rank among the state's largest employers.

"It is interesting. Right now I am not sure how it is all going to shake out," he said.

A Foxwoods tribal spokesman declined to comment on the prospects of union organizing efforts at the casino.

Although Foxwoods may be a likely target, and some are calling the federal court ruling a landmark decision, any union would face major challenges at the Connecticut casinos.

First, the appellate court decision could be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians of California. That tribe had challenged a ruling by the National Labor Relations Board that it had to follow federal labor law.

In the past, murkiness over the application of federal law on tribal lands has made unionizing difficult, and an appeal could prolong that problem, union officials said.

"The appeals process needs to be finished and dealt with," said Jack Gribbon, California political director for UNITE HERE.

He declined to say whether the union is discussing trying to organize at Foxwoods, saying it does not talk about plans to avoid tipping off management.

Besides the possible appeal, there are larger, more general challenges to organizing workers. Federal labor law favors management during the organizing process, making it difficult to get employees who are fearful of losing their jobs to join in, said Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of labor education research at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University.

Most of the benefits of federal labor law, she added, don't come until after the union is formed.

With or without last week's ruling, Olsen, the state AFL-CIO president, said the challenge for organized labor is in the larger issue of reforming federal law.

Still, union officials are talking now about the prospect of adding thousands of members. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who intervened in favor of labor in the federal case, said the ruling was a prime topic of conversation when he talked with labor leaders Monday.

"The first words out of their mouths were, `Have you read the opinion? We need to sit down and talk about it,'" Blumenthal said.

The two Connecticut tribes, the Mashantucket Pequots and Mohegans, sided with San Manuel Band in the case. Pequot leaders believe the tribe should continue to be treated like state and local governments and not be subject to federal labor law, according to a tribal spokesman.

Tribal leaders for Mohegan Sun were out of state for meetings and hadn't reviewed the ruling, said Charles Bunnell, chief of staff for the Mohegan Tribe.

He said the tribe has not been the subject of union organizing efforts in the past and continues to diligently address employees' concerns and provide the best pay and benefit packages.

Contact Mark Peters at mrpeters@courant.com.