Union seeks to organize at Seneca Nation casino

Wednesday, February 14, 2007  

A union that has been trying to organize at the Seneca Nation's casino in Niagara Falls, New York, praised a court ruling that subjects tribes to federal labor law.

Frank C. DeRiso, the president of Local 1, United Food and Commercial Workers, called the ruling by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals "a win for all employees working for Indian tribes," The Buffalo News reported. "This gives them the right to collectively bargain with their employer."

Teamsters Local 375 tried to organize at the casino and filed two complaints with the National Labor Relations Board. One was dropped and another was dismissed.

That didn't happen with a union trying to organize at the casino owned by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians of California. The NLRB ruled that tribes fall under the National Labor Relations Act if their business enterprises employ non-Indians and impact non-Indians.

The D. C. Circuit upheld that logic in its ruling last Friday. The court noted that tribal sovereignty stands at its "weakest" away from the reservation.

The Seneca Nation's casino in Niagara Falls is off the reservation. So is another one in the works in downtown Buffalo.

Get the Story:
Efforts to unionize Falls casino boosted (The Buffalo News 2/13)