Leave it to a government agency to release a long-awaited decision right before the July 4th holiday.  Since it is a vacation week, this afternoon’s post will be brief. I’ll followup again when there is more to report, including press statements that are expected to be released on the subject. 

For those first looking for background on the election battles between the UAW and Foxwoods, you can see my prior posts here.

So what’s the news for today? Well, not surprisingly, the NLRB, in a decision officially released on June 30, 2008, certified the election last fall of the table game workers at Foxwoods casino.  You can download the brief decision here.  Much of the decision rests on the evaluation of the objections that Foxwoods raised to the election, and the run-up to the election. The NLRB found that none of the issues raised by Foxwoods warranted a new election.

The decision means that the UAW can now request that Foxwoods begin negotiations and bargaining over a contract. But don’t expect that to happen. Foxwoods can refuse to bargain with UAW, which will just lead to another series of motions and appeals. This decision doesn’t address once of the "big" issues that remain out there: namely, the tribe’s contention that it is protected by the doctrine of sovereign immunity.

As I’ve said before, I would expect this case to continue in litigation until either a federal appellate court rules on the election, or it is appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.  The UAW certainly passed another hurdle today in its bid to represent workers, but the real battles remain to come.

The Day has covered this story before and I’ve just noticed that they have a brief post today.  Reporter Heather Allen has done an admirable job at providing solid reporting on the subject so I’m sure she’ll also have more in the upcoming days if needed.