Connecticut AG Files Brief Opposing Foxwoods Appeal Of NLRB Ruling Ordering Dealer Unionization Vote

November 19, 2007 -- Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has filed a brief opposing Foxwoods Resort Casino's appeal of a recent National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision allowing dealers to vote on unionization.

Foxwoods appealed the NLRB regional director's decision to the full board.

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The NLRB ordered the vote based on an earlier board decision, NLRB vs. San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino -- upheld by a federal appeals court -- that federal labor laws apply to tribal commercial ventures, including casinos.

"The regional director's assertion of jurisdiction over the union's representation petition is compelled by both the San Manuel decision and by compelling law, logic and sound public policy," Blumenthal said in the brief. "In fact, Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut is a paradigmatic example of an enterprise whose tribal ownership is transcended by its sheer size and commercial impact on the state (indeed on surrounding states) such that Foxwoods cannot fit itself within any exception to the board's jurisdiction.

"The board may reject the bulk of the legal argument that Foxwoods has made as simply contrary to the board's San Manuel decision. That decision followed a long line of precedent in the federal courts of appeals -- ignored by Foxwoods in its request for review -- holding federal labor laws applicable to tribal commercial activities, with very narrow exceptions.

"For the foregoing reasons, the board should deny the tribe's request for review and affirm the regional director's decision asserting jurisdiction over the tribal casino."

The NLRB authorized the union election after the United Auto Workers (UAW) collected signatures of a majority of Foxwoods' approximately 3,000 dealers. Federal law mandates a unionization vote when at least 30 percent of employees sign cards requesting an election.

Source: Connecticut Attorney General