A bill currently before Congress would clarify what many tribes have held for years, that the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 does not apply to tribal governments.
The act, also known as the Wagner Act, was put in place to protect collective bargaining rights. The National Labor Relations Board enforces it. It does not mention Indian tribes, but the NLRB has asserted that it has authority over tribal governments.
In 2004 the board first asserted its authority over the San Manuel Casino in Southern California after a union, UNITE HERE complained that the tribe allowed a competing union to organize while locking it out.
The tribe claimed that NLRB did not have jurisdiction. The board differed, pointing out that no legislation had specifically excluded tribes.
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals held that the NLRB did have jurisdiction over such commercial matters. Currently a similar case involving the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe and the NLRB is being the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. If that court rules differently it could send the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Hoping to resolve this issue, Kansas Senator Jerry Moran earlier this year introduced S.248, the “Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act of 2015,” which would specifically exclude the NLRB from enterprises owned and operated by a tribe.
In February the National Congress of American Indians, adopted a resolution supporting the bill.
This spring the Senate Indian Affairs is scheduled to begin holding hearings on the bill.
