Workers’ Rights Stripped at Indian-run Casinos and Other Tribal Enterprises by Anti-Labor Bill
WASHINGTON – Today, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 511, the “Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act of 2015,” by a vote of 249 to 117. This legislation would strip hundreds of thousands of workers employed at Indian-owned tribal enterprises—such as casinos, hotels and mines—of their voice in the workplace and the protections under the National Labor Relations Act. Although tribal casinos employ upwards of 600,000 people, approximately 75 percent of the employees are non-Indians. In a Statement of Administration Policy released today, the Obama Administration stated that the President could not support H.R. 511, the Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act of 2015, as currently drafted.
“There is no principled basis for excluding hundreds of thousands of workers from coverage under our nation’s labor laws just because they happen to work on tribal lands,” said Ranking Member Bobby Scott. “Tribes must comply with the requirements of laws of general applicability, such as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), and the public accommodations requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act, among other federal workplace laws. Yet, this bill singles out the National Labor Relations Act.”
H.R. 511 overrides National Labor Relations Board policy—which has been upheld by numerous courts—that balances the rights of workers with the interests of Indian tribes to protect their intramural governance and treaty rights. By stripping the NLRB of jurisdiction, this legislation creates economic uncertainty for workers where labor agreements are in effect at Indian-owned enterprises, while eviscerating the legal basis for established bargaining relationships and obliterating tribes’ duty to bargain in good faith when contracts expire.
By depriving these workers of the right to organize and bargain collectively, this legislation ensures that low-paid service workers in tribal casinos will lose the opportunity to share the wealth they are creating for the tribe, and deprive them of the opportunity to climb the ladder to the middle class.
As a member of the International Labor Organization (ILO), the United States government is obligated to respect and promote four core rights outlined in the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, including the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining. The International Labor Organization recently issued an advisory opinion which stated that in cases where “there are no tribal labor relations ordinances, undue restrictions on collective bargaining, excessive limitations on freedom of association rights or lack of protections from unfair labor practices, workers on tribal territories would be left without any remedy for violation of their fundamental freedom of association rights, short of a constitutional battle.”
Democratic and Republican Administrations have insisted that our trading partners abide by and enforce these basic labor rights, and Congress has repeatedly ratified these obligations in free trade agreements. But today, Congress voted on a bill that does just the opposite for American workers at tribal enterprises.
Click here to find letters in opposition to H.R. 511 from UNITE HERE, the Communications Workers of America, the United Steelworkers, the Teamsters, and the AFL-CIO.
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