Indian country leaders are trying to line up the votes in the U.S. Senate to put the Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act over the top with sixty votes. Right now 57 senators say they will vote for it, not enough to overcome a filibuster.
It’s a bill that, although sought fervently by tribes, is resisted just as stoutly by labor unions, which is creating a crisis for Democratic senators who normally don’t have to choose whether to be loyal to tribes or unions.
Republicans generally favor the bill, which would exempt tribal businesses from the National Labor Relations Act, and from the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Board, which for 14 years has claimed authority over businesses owned by tribes that employ non-Indians.
A vote had been expected two weeks ago, when the National Congress of American Indians was meeting, but it is being delayed now.
NCAI’s executive director Jackie Pata told Indianz.com , “It is a shame that tribal governments are not included as governments, like state governments and local government.”
