The Pauma Band of Luiseño Indians in San Diego County has lost what is probably its final bid to claim that tribal sovereignty protects it from U.S. labor laws.
About a week after the Senate failed to adopt a bill that would have established that tribes are not governed by the National Labor Relations Act, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the tribe must submit to that act.
Conceding that the 1934 law was “ambiguous” as to whether it applies to Indian tribes, the court deferred to the National Labor Relations Board which in 2004 began claiming authority over tribal businesses that employ non-tribal workers.
The decision states: “Under these circumstances—in which both the board and the parties present reasonable interpretations of an ambiguous provision in the NLRA—the court must defer to the board’s conclusions respecting the meaning of federal labor law.”
The tribe and other “friends of the court” had sought to show that tribal employees were “public employees,” like state employees, which are exempt from the NLRB.
Admitting that these claims were reasonable the court still sided with the NLRB.
The decision follows rapidly upon the failure by tribes to push passage of the Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act, which sought to carve out an exemption for tribes.
Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, who had fought for the bill, declared, “For nearly 70 years, tribal governments were exempt from the act, just like local and state governments and the federal government. However, in 2004 the NLRB inappropriately ruled that tribes were no longer exempt. This measure would create parity for tribal governments, giving them the same employer rights afforded to other federal, state, and local governments.”
Supporters were not able to get enough votes to overcome a promised filibuster by opponents.
