The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has moved closer to requiring that all tribal casinos in California allow their workers to unionize.
The Court of Appeals, in a 3-0 vote by a panel of the court, is requiring that the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation in San Diego County, abide by a contract that it was required to sign with the Unite Here Local 30 union by its state-tribal gaming compact.
The tribe had sued to challenge the contract over some disputes with the union, claiming that the contract violated the National Labor Relations Act. The court sided with the union, requiring the tribe to give the issue to an arbitrator.
The federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) requires that a tribe must sign a compact with the state to conduct gaming. The compact the Sycuan tribe signed with California in 2015 required it to adopt a Tribal Labor Relations Ordinance that would authorize unions to organize the casino’s employees and refer disputes to arbitration. Some workers are exempted from the requirement, such as dealers and security workers.
The tribe refused to adopt a TLRO, it would violate federal labor law. The union said the tribe refused to cooperate in any way with organizing and advised its employees to oppose the union. Sycuan also claimed it wasn’t bound by the 2015 compact. The state has filed documents supporting the union in the lawsuit.
The court wrote, “there is no sovereign immunity to arbitration because a party is only obligated to arbitrate when that party agreed to arbitrate, as Sycuan did.”
The union’s attorney said the ruling was “a very important step toward organizing.”
The tribe’s lawyer said it intends to appeal to the full 9th Circuit.
