An administrative law judge for the National Labor Relations Board has ruled against the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians in San Diego County.
The judge ruled that the tribe violated labor by giving smaller bonuses to union members. The tribe argues that the board has no jurisdiction over it, and that its rulings attack its sovereignty.
The labor board, however, insists that the casino operation is a commercial operation that is outside of the tribe’s ability to govern.
The judge wrote, “there is no evidence in the language or legislative history of the National Labor Relations Act to suggest that Congress intended to exclude Native Americans or their commercial enterprises from the Act’s jurisdiction.”
The law, enacted in 1935, does exclude state and local governments from its rulings, although it does not mention tribes.
The complaint was brought by United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, Local 135, whose members were given half the bonuses going to non-union members.
Some members of Congress are trying to pass the Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act, which would specify that tribes and their commercial enterprises are exempt from the NLRA.
