Stephen, J. Cabot blog

In Arizona, two Indian tribes, the Pascua Yaqui and the Tohono O odham Nation, as well as tribes from other states, have declared that their casinos, hotels, and restaurants should be exempt from NLRB rulings that permit unions to organize their workers.

The tribes have asked Congress to curtail the authority of the National Labor Relations Board when it comes to organizing workers at casinos and related operations. The tribes claim that their operations are part of their sovereign governments and so are not like non-tribal casino operations.

The Tohono O odham Nation employs more than 1,200 casino workers, and the Pascua Yaqui Tribe employs more than 1,300. They are two of the largest employers in their areas of Arizona, and many of their employees are not tribal members.

The federal government believes that tribes are subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act and EPA rules and regulations. While tribes are subject to those and other federal regulations and laws, including minimum wage regulations and anti-discrimination laws, there is ambiguity about whether the tribes are subject to various labor laws and regulations. If, however, labor laws specifically violate tribal treaty provisions, there is no ambiguity, for tribes are exempt from the application of those laws.

Though the tribes do not want to be subjected to union organizing efforts (who does?) they really don’t have much to worry about, for their management polices are such that the vast majority of employees are pleased with their wages and benefits, which usually include health and dental insurance as well as 401(k) pension plans. When labor problems arise, such problems are usually generated by disgruntled employees or those who have a pro-union ideology.

Now, U.S. Rep. J.D. Hayworth has introduced a bill to amend the National Labor Relations Act, which would permit the tribal casinos to operate free of NLRB governance.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees has earmarked $60-million for a campaign to unionize 70,000 workers and to register 280,000 to vote. This is an effort by the largest union in the AFL-CIO to assert itself as the most militant by launching a highly aggressive and well-financed organizing campaign. If any evidence were needed that unions are on the march and intend to reverse their decades-old decline, this is it.

The union’s president, Gerald McEntee, intends to increase his members’ dues each year for the next three years: by $12-million in 2007, by $36-million in 2008, and by $60-million in 2009. That’s a considerable war chest, which can be used to buy a great deal of political support. In fact, he intends to increase the number of union members who can vote in general elections, so that the 1.4 million members of the AFL-CIO can elect union friendly representatives in the fall elections.

If this movement is to succeed, it only requires complacency on the part of corporate America, political leaders, and opinion makers. If management will work to establish effective programs that eliminate the often adversarial relations that exist between management and workers, much of the steam can be taken out of a new union movement that is rapidly heating up.

In Toledo, Ohio, nurses at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center have asked the National Labor Relations Board to supervise an election that will determine if the United Auto Workers (UAW) should be removed as the bargaining agent for the nurses.

The petition to decertify the union, which was filed on July 21, must have signatures from 30 percent of those in the nurses bargaining unit if the NLRB is to grant their request for an election.

The NLRB is also investigating a charge of unfair labor practices that has been filed against the union by the nurses.

This is just another example of unions not delivering on their promises and alienating once loyal union members. For many years, organized labor has proven to be too self-serving, neither helping their members, nor adding to the profitability and productivity of a vast array of U. S. companies. Such actions as those being taken by the nurses in Toledo speak volumes about the sad state of organized labor in the 21st Century.