Foxwoods Casino Workers Choose Union

In union elections held Saturday November 24th, dealers at Foxwoods Resort Casino have voted "yes" to have a union represent them. The votes were 1,289 "yes" and 852 "no" and counted by representative from the National Labor Relations Board.

The election, which the National Labor Relations Board held at Foxwoods, is believed to be the first federally supervised union vote at a tribal casino. The 3,000 dealers would become the first employees at either of Connecticut's tribal casino, Foxwoods, or nearby Mohegan Sun, to unionize. The United Auto Workers union has spent the last six months organizing Foxwoods' dealers. Dealers have pushed for collective bargaining to address pay, benefits and a desire to have a stronger voice in the workplace.

The tribe has fought the vote administered by the National Labor Relations Board, saying the federal agency does not have jurisdiction over the casino on its reservation. Instead, tribal leaders have said workers should organize under recently passed tribal laws concerning unions.

"We are disappointed with the preliminary tally, however, these results will not be official until all legal issues, including jurisdiction, are resolved," said John O'Brien, President, Foxwoods Resort Casino. "We continue to believe as we have from the very beginning that the Labor Board lacked jurisdiction and that any election should have been governed by tribal laws."