Here is a tough question for many, I'm sure. Most here would proabably support requests from unions for stronger right to organize laws. And some here would probably also support stronger committments to national sovereignty of Native American tribes. However, what happens when those two issues clash and you have unions lobbying state governments to force soverign tribes to include better unions support? That's the current situation in Southern California between the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union and the Cahuilla Indians.
Union leaders contend that the
Agua Caliente band has used its status as a sovereign Indian nation to deny casino employees basic workers protections. But tribal representatives argue that the existing tribal-state compact includes adequate union representation rules, and that the vast majority of employees at the tribe's two casinos are satisfied with their jobs.
I say it's no contest. Tribes are supposed to be sovereign entitities, and the current situation where they are forced to sign gaming compacts is already a violation of that sovereignty. But I'm sure other people here have a different idea.