Little River Band Fights NLRB and Teamsters

Turtle Talk reported this week that the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians is asking the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan to stop the National Labor Relations Board and the Teamsters from challenging the tribe’s Fair Employment Practices Code.

The band’s FEP governs a variety of employment issues, including the terms for collective bargaining – union activity – within tribal enterprises. The United Steelworkers agreed to comply with the band’s code, including an agreement that it obtain a license to engage in activity within the band’s jurisdiction. The Teamsters, however, are refusing to acknowledge the band’s authority to regulate collective bargaining activity and the union filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board. The complaint can be found here on Turtle Talk.

Crow Nation Enacts Tribal Workforce Protection Act

On January 28, the Crow Nation became the first tribe to enact a tribal workforce protection act, protecting the rights of all workers – native and non-native – working on the Crow reservation in Montana.

The law, which will take effect on April 1, will prohibit discrimination against workers based on race, color, gender, sexual preference, religion, national origin or tribal affiliation. Read more here.

Maybe someone would like to comment on how such laws work in conjunction with a Tribal Employment Rights Ordinance.

As the story points out, it seems as if the tribe is trying to avoid employment issues as it gears up for its big Many Stars Project – its partnership between the tribe and Australian-American Energy Co. to develop the first coal to liquid plant in the United States – which is expected to bring about 4,000 construction jobs to the reservation and 900 permanent positions. Enacting its own employment laws may make the federal courts less inclined to apply federal employment laws, such as the National Labor Relations Act or the Civil Rights Act of 1964.