International Operating Engineer - Spring 2018

Politics & Legislation
Legislation Would Eliminate Workers’ Rights on Tribal Lands
In April, the United States Senate
voted on legislation that would strip
hundreds of thousands of American
workers of their fundamental rights in
the workplace, if they worked for tribalowned
businesses on Native American
lands. In his letter to senators,
General President Callahan called the
legislation, “the biggest rollback of
labor law since the passage of the Taft-
Hartley Act in 1947.”
The legislation is focused on the
tribal gaming industry – a $28 billion
enterprise in the United States – but
would also extend to every other
operation of the tribe. Operating
Engineers are employed at some of
these facilities at locations all over the
United States, from Connecticut to
California.
The legislation had already passed
in the House of Representatives, but
stalled in the Senate when it failed to
obtain a required supermajority of 60
votes to overcome a filibuster. Eight
Senate Democrats supported the bill
and voted to eliminate workers’ rights.
They are both New Mexico Senators,
Mark Udall and Martin Heinrich,
Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin,
Montana Senator Jon Tester, North
Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp, both
Virginia Senators, Mark Warner and
Tim Kaine, and Senate Independent,
who aligns with the Democrats, Angus
King of Maine.
Twenty-three Democrats voted
to strip workers’ rights in the House
of Representatives. Only fifteen
Republicans voted with the IUOE. They
are some of our closest Republican
allies.
The IUOE secured the support of
one Senate Republican, Rob Portman
of Ohio. His vote ensures that it is
impossible to secure the 60 votes
necessary to overcome the opposition.
The bill died and is unlikely to come up
again this session of Congress, though
efforts have been made to include it in
other must-pass legislation.
The bill, S.140 (as amended in
the House), changes current law
by exempting the National Labor
Relations Act (NLRA) from tribal
enterprises on tribal lands. Native
American tribes own ski resorts,
mines, commercial farms, golf
courses, sawmills, construction firms,
restaurants, entertainment facilities,
and other businesses. None of them
would have to comply with national
labor law, if they are operated by the
tribe and not a management company.
If a management company operates
the facility, the workers retain their
private-sector labor rights.
Hundreds of members of IUOE
Local 953 are employed at a coal
mine that is owned by the Navajo
Nation in Farmington, New Mexico.
The mine is currently operated by
another company, not a Navajo tribal
enterprise, which means that it would
not be exempted from labor law. The
tribal business must also be operated
by the tribe, not a management
company. There is, however,
currently no definition of “tribal
enterprise” anywhere else in law, and
if this legislation passed, “creative”
definitions of tribal enterprises would
no doubt be tested in the courts.
This bill is a poorly disguised attack
on workers’ rights. Passage of this
bill would strip employees of tribal
enterprises of their right to form unions
and bargain collectively. Close to
700,000 people work at Indian gaming
facilities. Over 600,000 of them are not
Native American.
Hundreds of Operating Engineers
work in Native American gaming
operations. Local 30 represents
hundreds of workers at Foxwoods
Casino in Connecticut and recently
added 45 workers in an organizing
drive. Locals 39 and 501 also represent
hundreds of members at tribal gaming
operations.
The tribes maintain that they want
to be treated like a state government.
They argue that exempting them from
private-sector labor law is a matter of
sovereignty. But states don’t operate a
$28 billion dollar gaming industry with
700,000 workers.
Testimony from the Native
American Rights Fund laid bare the real
reason for the legislation: The tribes
want it because it will keep unions off
the reservations. Another tribal witness
said that they want to deny workers the
right to strike. Make no mistake, this
legislation is a business proposition
for the Tribes. They are wielding
their political power in an attempt to
squash the fundamental rights of their
employees.
According to the National Indian
Gaming Commission, Indian gaming
generated $28 billion in revenue in fiscal
year 2013 and operated 449 gaming
facilities. Indian gaming enterprises
also collectively paid 250 lobbyists over
$24 million to lobby Congress in 2014
and they contributed over $14 million
in the 2014 election cycle to federal
candidates and committees, according
to the Center for Responsive Politics.
[left] Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) voted to
support the rights of Operating Engineers
and other workers who are employed
by tribal-owned businesses on Native
American lands.
Operating Engineers Beat Back
Another Attack on Davis-Bacon
ANTI-UNION ZEALOT, Congressman
Steve King (R-IA), for the fourth time
this Congress, introduced legislation
which targeted the Davis-Bacon Act.
King introduced an amendment to
H.R. 4, the FAA Reauthorization Act of
2018, which would have ensured that
“no funds made available by the FAA
Reauthorization Act could be used to
enforce prevailing wage requirements
required under the Davis-Bacon Act.”
Like Rep. King’s previous attacks,
this legislation was also defeated on
the House floor. With the support of
57 Republicans the amendment was
defeated by a vote of 172-243 on April
26th. We were happy to welcome the
following first-time Republican supporters
of the Davis-Bacon Act – Rep.
Don Bacon (NE), Rep. Mike Bishop
(MI), Rep. Billy Long (MO), and Chris
Stewart (UT).
Congressman Steve King believes
that construction workers make too
much money and the Davis-Bacon Act
increases overall construction costs.
However, the Davis-Bacon Act is just a
common-sense policy which requires
that contractors on a project with federal
support – whether through federal
loans, grants, or other types of financing
– pay construction craftworkers a
minimum wage that is established by
the U.S. Department of Labor through
a local survey of wages and benefits.
The law simply prevents the federal
government – a large, influential construction
owner – from using precious
tax dollars to undercut wage standards
of local workers. It helps ensure quality
construction, and it prevents large
out-of-state contractors from undercutting
local businesses. It ensures that
bottom-feeding contractors can’t win a
public construction project by lowering
workers’ wages in a never-ending
race to the bottom. They must compete
on a level playing field with IUOE
union contractors.
Furthermore, the Davis-Bacon Act has
no effect on total costs of construction.
Opponents of the law invent imaginary
savings to justify their anti-worker
positions. Numerous studies have revealed
that productivity makes up for
any additional labor costs, essentially
eliminating any cost-savings if the law
was repealed.
As long as Rep. Steve King remains in
Congress, the Operating Engineers
should expect more of his anti-union
attacks, but King should expect the
Operating Engineers to continue to
defeat his anti-union agenda with the
help of our members and supporters
in Congress.
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12 INTERNATIONAL OPERATING ENGINEER
SPRING 2018 13