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Foxwoods Resort Casino and the United Auto Workers March 24 reached an agreement to settle allegations of unfair labor practices the union filed with National Labor Relations Board Region 34 during a 2007 organizing campaign (United Auto Workers v. Mashantucket Pequot Gaming Enter. d/b/a Foxwoods Resort Casino, N.L.R.B., No. 34-CA-11776, settlement reached 3/24/08).
The union and casino entered into a standard informal resolution settlement agreement that resolves all of the allegations that arose during UAW's organizing campaign of dealers at the Foxwoods Resort Casino, John Cotter, assistant regional director for NLRB Region 34 in Hartford, Conn., told BNA March 27.
The casino, which is located on an Indian reservation in Mashantucket, Conn., agreed to post notices in the workplace for 60 days that declare workers' rights to organize and bargain collectively. The notices also state in 21 different ways that the employer will not interfere with those rights. In addition, the employer agreed to provide back pay to two employees and remove any record of their suspensions from their employment documents.
NLRB had issued a complaint Oct. 29, 2007, that consolidated a number of unfair labor practice charges that UAW had filed in July, August, and September 2007 (225 DLR A-1, 11/23/07 ). The complaint alleged that Foxwoods unlawfully threatened employees with discipline for engaging in union activity, prohibited employees from soliciting or distributing literature on behalf of the union, engaged in surveillance of employees' union activities, threatened employees with loss of benefits and changes in schedules if they voted for the union, solicited employee complaints, prohibited workers from wearing union insignia at work, and suspended two employees and issued a written notice to another for engaging in union activities.
NLRB hearings before an administrative law judge on the issues repeatedly were postponed until the parties reached an agreement on the allegations, Cotter said.
UAW Oct. 1 filed a petition to represent the 3,000 Foxwoods dealers (193 DLR A-11, 10/5/07 ), and they voted Nov. 24 in favor of the union in what is believed to be the first election ever conducted by NLRB at a casino on an Indian reservation (227 DLR A-9, 11/27/07 ). The Indian Nation has objected to the election, claiming that the casino is outside NLRB jurisdiction and that therefore the election was improper. NLRB has not ruled on Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation's objections to the election, but an NLRB administrative law judge March 11 recommended that the objections should be overruled (51 DLR A-9, 3/17/08 ).
UAW and Foxwoods representatives were not available for comment.
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