Connecticut could become the new battleground for labor unions at casinos after an appeals court ruling subjected tribes to federal labor law.
In the past, unions have tried to organize at Foxwoods Resort Casino, owned by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. But the effort failed in the late 1990s by the same union at issue in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals case. The AFL-CIO says it has received inquiries about unions at Foxwoods and at Mohegan Sun, owned by the Mohegan Tribe. The Pequots and the Mohegans had supported the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians in the court case. State attorney general Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, supported the unions. He called the decision a "victory opens a new era for working men and women at tribal casinos in Connecticut and across the country." Get the Story: