NPR: Union negotiates first casino deal under tribal law

Monday, March 15, 2010  

"American Indian casinos are big business in the United States, with an estimated 280,000 people employed across more than 400 sites.

That huge workforce is largely unorganized. Only a few such casinos recognize union contracts. Among them is North America's largest gaming center, Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut.

Its dealers recently struck a deal after a lengthy dispute with the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe. What makes this agreement different is that it was brokered under tribal law.

Denise Gladue has been a blackjack dealer at Foxwoods Resort Casino for 15 years. She's among the vast majority of Foxwoods workers who are not tribal members. Back in the day, she says, it was a great place to work, but in late 2006 that began to change.

With the start of the recession more than two years ago, casinos across the country were struggling, and so were their employees.

"It just made a lot of us upset and angry that we were losing these good benefits that we had when the company was still making money," Gladue says."

Get the Story:
UAW Brokers First Union Contract Under Tribal Law (National Public Radio 3/14)