Projo Biz Blog

The National Labor Relations Board this week ordered Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut to bargain with the dealers and assistant floor supervisors represented by the United Auto Workers Union.

The Mashantucket Pequots, owners of Foxwoods, have refused to recognize the vote last November by nearly 3,000 casino dealers to join the UAW. The tribe maintains the UAW and the NLRB have no jurisdiction at Foxwoods because the casino is owned and run by a sovereign nation.

Tuesday's ruling came the same day that Foxwoods announced plans to cut about 6 percent of their work force because of the weak economy.

The Mashantucket Pequots, who employ nearly 11,000 workers at Foxwoods, said the 700 job cuts will be in addition to just under 200 announced in June and will come over the next few weeks. The latest layoff announcement came just four months after Foxwoods opened a major expansion at the casino in Ledyard, Conn.

Last month, the NLRB issued a complaint alleging that Foxwoods broke federal law by retaliating against a new union and refusing to bargain in good faith. The board said the casino refused to promote dealers, changed its medical leave procedures and eliminated coat hooks and chairs from employee cafeteria restrooms because its employees formed the union.

Those findings now go before an administrative law judge in Hartford for a hearing Nov. 17. The NLRB is seeking an order for back pay and other relief for the employees.

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