Tribe files objections with NLRB over vote

Mashantucket - Foxwoods Resort Casino has alleged that the United Food and Commercial Workers union "made inflammatory appeals to voters' political, racial and/or ethnic prejudices" in urging bartenders and beverage servers to vote for union affiliation in an election at the casino last month.

Foxwoods and its owner, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, made the claim in a filing Monday with the National Labor Relations Board's Hartford office, which oversaw the July 31 vote in which workers favored the union, 190 to 145.

Foxwoods, as expected, contends in the filing that the election was "improper" because, it says, the tribe and its gaming enterprise are not subject to the National Labor Relations Act or the jurisdiction of the NLRB. The NLRB has repeatedly rejected such claims.

In additionally alleging that the union "disturbed the 'laboratory conditions' necessary to a free and fair election," Foxwoods says union members told employees they would be laid off to provide jobs for tribal members if they failed to vote for the union. Foxwoods also claims the union told employees that by affiliating with the union "the employees could override the well-established rights of Indian tribes to grant preferential employment rights to Native Americans, including members of the Nation, via native preference laws."

Tribal members, who receive monthly distributions of the casino's gaming revenue, have been informed that the distributions, known as incentive payments, will cease at the end of the year. The tribe, beset by the recession's effect on gaming, is restructuring a debt of more than $2 billion.

Offices of Local 371 of the UFCW, rocked by the sudden death Friday of its president, Brian Petronella, closed Monday before the NLRB released Foxwoods' filing. Petronella, who will be buried Wednesday in Norwalk, had been committed to organizing Foxwoods workers for years. The UFCW's Westport offices will remain closed until Thursday.

Jonathan Kreisberg, director of the NLRB's Hartford office, said Foxwoods would have to submit evidence within a few days to support its objections and that the NLRB would investigate them. The regional office could then make a determination based on the evidence or conduct a hearing, Kreisberg said.

Foxwoods is expected to pursue further appeals if the NLRB dismisses its objections and certifies the union.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com