An effort to unionize dealers at Foxwoods Resort Casino got a boost from members of Connecticut’s congressional delegation and top elected officials.
They attended a rally at the state Capitol to back the United Auto Workers, which has petitioned the National Labor Relations Board seeking an election to form a union for about 3,000 dealers at Foxwoods Resort Casino.
The union would be one of the first at a tribal casino. Foxwoods is operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation.
“We are on your side,” state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal told about 60 workers, union officials and others.
He said he has filed a brief on the UAW’s behalf, telling the National Labor Relations Board that it has the authority to order a vote. A federal appeals court ruled earlier this year that Indian casinos are bound by the NLRB, which sets rules for unionization.
Foxwoods said in a statement it is “certainly in favor of an employee’s right to organize and right to bargain.” However, the Mashantuckets say the election and bargaining should be done under tribal employment law that has been developed over 15 years.
Tribal gambling has grown into a $22 billion-a-year industry with casinos in 28 states. About 250,000 people, mostly non-Indians, work at the nation’s 400-plus tribal casinos.
A few tribal casinos in California are unionized, but most workers are nonunion. Unions have tried to make inroads with the growing work force but say they’ve had trouble without the protection of the federal National Labor Relations Act.
Sherry Lee, a dealer at Foxwoods, told state officials and others Monday that workers need to increase their pay to keep up with the cost of living.
“We’re diligent workers,” she said. “We work five days a week. If we could, we’d work seven days a week.”
Most of the elected officials backing the UAW’s drive to unionize dealers are Democrats, traditional union allies.
“Isn’t it great to be on the offense again?” Rep. Christopher Murphy, D-Conn., asked participants at the rally.
Several Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays and state Sen. Anthony Guglielmo, R-Stafford Springs, also back the union drive.
