The Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act, which recently passed the House and is now being considered by the U.S. Senate would exempt most tribal businesses, including casinos, from the National Labor Relations Act, and thus the National Labor Relations Board.
Up until a few years ago, most tribes didn’t consider the NLRB a factor in their businesses, but then the NLRB began asserting that its enforcement powers extended to regulating tribes’ relations with unions and unionizing.
The issue isn’t a purely Republican or Democratic one since it pits Indian tribes against unions. Both are traditionally Democratic strongholds. When the House passed the Act recently with a vote of 239-173 votes, 23 Democrats joined in supporting it.
Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona then attached the bill to another bill on tribal water rights that didn’t have the NLRB language. So, the bill has been passed in both the Senate and the House but in different years. This time Senate Democrats are promising a fight on it.
That fight is likely to happen next month when, coincidentally or not, the National Congress of American Indians will hold their annual convention in Washington D.C. This will create a perfect lobbying opportunity for tribes to peel off enough Democratic senators to overcome the Senate’s 60 vote rule for overcoming a filibuster.
The National Labor Relations Act, when Congress passed it in 1935 did not mention Indian tribes, and for most of its existence the NLRB didn’t make any claim of jurisdiction. Until 2004 when the board made the claim that it did have such oversight.
This opened the way for unions to begin organizing on tribal lands. The NLRB’s rationale was that most of the workers were non-tribal. Some tribes have accepted this—others have vigorously opposed it. Tribes have lobbied Congress for years to exempt them, arguing that being forced to deal with unions cuts into casino profits and flies in the face of tribal sovereignty.
Supporters say that the act would recognize tribal sovereignty and laws and protect Native American rights. Opponents say it’s a union busting bill that leaves casino employees vulnerable to exploitation.
