foxwoods casino connecticut tribal law for shoplifting

The tribal law mirrors federal law closely, but with one major difference - the union has given up its right to strike and instead has agreed to binding arbitration.

'It really did feel very much like a win-win respect and acknowledgment of tribal sovereignty, and at the same time having a legal framework that did protect employee rights,' says Elizabeth Bunn, secretary-treasurer of the UAW.

For management, the contract provides cost controls at a time when gaming has been hit hard by the recession. It also allows casual dealers to become part-time employees with benefits.

The contract gives the dealers a 12-percent raise over two years and a new system for distributing tips. The two sides finally struck a deal last month. 'And certainly the National Labor Relations Board - they said, 'Look, we don't know anything about Indian tribes - how you guys operate, or what your institutions are.' So it was educational. 'Certainly when this was first brought up to the union, they thought it was ridiculous,' King says. The tribe proposed that while both sides preserve their rights under federal law, the talks actually be convened under tribal law. Jackson King, who is general counsel to the Mashantuckets, says the tribe wanted to find a creative solution to that standoff. Tribes everywhere saw this as a huge erosion of sovereignty. The ruling said that federal labor laws did apply to American Indian gaming operations because they employ a large number of non-American Indians. But that changed in 2007 when a federal court ruled against the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians from California. Officially recognized American Indian tribes are sovereign nations, not subject to many federal laws including, for 30 years, the National Labor Relations Act. But when the dealers tried to negotiate with their employer, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, it would have none of it. Unions have set their sights on the casino industry in general, and the UAW has had some luck organizing in non-tribal gaming operations. So in 2007, a majority of the 2,500 table game dealers at Foxwoods' two casinos took a vote. 'It just made a lot of us upset and angry that we were losing these good benefits that we had when the company was still making money,' Gladue says. With the start of the recession more than two years ago, casinos across the country were struggling, and so were their employees.

Foxwoods casino connecticut tribal law for shoplifting