It’s been a little while since we last checked in with the unionization efforts at Foxwoods. The appeal process of the election of UAW has begun its slow arduous process so don’t expect to hear much on this for weeks or months at a time.
But in the meantime, various other groups have been vying to try to unionize other workers at Foxwoods. Yesterday, engineering department workers cast ballots about possible union representation by the International Union of Operating Engineers.
The workers overwhelmingly rejected such representation by a vote of 215-67.
The Day has this report from late Thursday evening:
The election results were hailed as a major victory by Foxwoods, which has recently received intense pressure as several unions have filed petitions seeking to unionize workers at the casino.
”We are very pleased with the vote of confidence that employees have given Foxwoods management today,” said Foxwoods President Barry Cregan in the release issued shortly after 7 p.m. “Those team members displayed outstanding professionalism through the entire process and clearly agreed that having an intermediary come between us wasn’t necessary.”
What’s interesting about this is that the tribe had also complained to the NLRB that the election shouldn’t go forward citing its sovereign immunity, as it has done on other elections. The Regional Director — as it has done before — rejected those claims in a decision found here. But this time, Foxwoods prevailed in the union election so unless the union raises exceptions to the election, it is unlikely that the immunity argument will be tested again here.
Foxwoods still has several more union petitions from other worker groups to face in the upcoming months. You can find my prior coverage of the Foxwoods unionization efforts here.
Because of Foxwoods’ status as one of the largest employers in Connecticut, and the novelty of unionization of its employees, this remains a topic worth following in the upcoming months.