Just days after the UAW suffered a defeat in trying to organize off-track betting workers at Foxwoods, the UAW has decided to withdraw its petition to represent a group of about 80-120 slot technicians.  The decision also came just hours before a hearing was to be held on the subject.  The withdrawal allows the UAW to re-file a petition again, though none is expected anytime soon. 

The Day continues its excellent coverage of the ongoing labor battles at Foxwoods with an article about the election in today’s paper.

As you will see, although I am not involved in the matter, I have provided some observations for the article.  There may be several reasons why the union withdrew its petition, but with neither side commenting on it, the most likely reason is that the UAW believed that it did not have support among the slot technicians and would likely lose the election. 

If that occurred, there would be a one-year bar to trying to re-organize.  Moreover, it would have been the third straight defeat for union organizing efforts at Foxwoods — not a pattern that the unions would like to have publicized.

Perhaps the observation by The Day is correct:

The withdrawal signals a slowing in the momentum that labor unions appeared to have been gaining at Foxwoods ever since the UAW won the right to represent nearly 3,000 poker and table-game dealers in November.

I’ll repeat what I said last fall when the organizing efforts first became public: This event is likely to take several years with lots of ups and downs between now and then.  Right now, both Foxwoods and UAW can claim some victories but the ultimate battles still lie ahead.