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DECEMBER 21, 2000

A lawyer for San Juan Pueblo in New Mexico says a case involving the tribe's sovereignty could be headed for the Supreme Court.

But for now, the tribe's case is being reheard in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. The issue centers around whether or not the tribe can outlaw labor security agreements on behalf of tribal members.

Labor union security agreements require employees of a company to pay dues to a union, even if they don't join the union. They are legal under the National Labor Relations Act.

But the tribe enacted its own law prohibiting them after it entered into a leasing agreement with a timber company on their northern New Mexico reservation. A federal court sided with the tribe in 1998 and 10th Circuit upheld the ruling 2-1 in September.

The Pueblo is being sued by the National Labor Relations Board. A rehearing before the entire circuit is scheduled for May 15.

Get the Story:
Pueblo Labor Case Gets a Rehearing (The Albuquerque Journal 12/21)

Get the Case:
NLRB v. Pueblo of San Juan (10th Cir. No 99-2011, 99-2030. September 2000)