Labor concerns trump tribal sovereignty in Congress

Ten years of animosity between tribal governments and union organizers led up to a meltdown of bipartisan efforts to pass the Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act on Monday. The bill, which would have excluded tribal governments from legislation allowing workers to unionize or strike, failed to receive the votes in the Senate it needed to pass. State and […]

Labor concerns trump tribal sovereignty in Congress

Ten years of animosity between tribal governments and union organizers led up to a meltdown of bipartisan efforts to pass the Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act on Monday. The bill, which would have excluded tribal governments from legislation allowing workers to unionize or strike, failed to receive the votes in the Senate it needed to pass. State and federal governments are already excluded from the National Labor Relations Act, and until recently tribal governments — being sovereign nations — were as well. But that changed in 2004, thanks to the law’s vague wording.

The NLRA was established in 1935, and for almost 80 years it prevented private industry from blocking workers’ unionization and strikes. But it did not apply to tribes, states and the federal government. However, in 2004, the National Labor Relations Board reversed that practice with regard to tribes because the law did not specifically exempt them under its definition of “employer.”

Unions are understandably worried by the Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act. If passed, it would apply to tribal businesses operating on tribal lands, from hotels and casinos to construction companies and power plants, potentially blocking hundreds of thousands of their workers from unionizing.

This story originally appeared at High Country News and is reprinted with permission.

“While the AFL-CIO continues to support the concept of tribal sovereignty in truly internal, self-governance matters, it is in no position to repudiate fundamental human rights that belong to every worker in every nation,” the organization wrote in a January letter to Congress.

Republicans contest the 2004 change as government overreach, and asserted that treating tribes on a nation-to-nation basis does not come with stipulations.

“Many of those who have expressed opposition to this bill say, ‘I support tribal sovereignty but …’,”said Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, one of the measure’s authors. “If you have to qualify tribal sovereignty to protect your own interests instead of the tribes, then, no, you really don’t support tribal sovereignty.”

That’s what Jefferson Keel, Lieutenant Governor of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma and president of the National Congress of American Indians, calls “conditional sovereignty.”

“ ‘Conditional sovereignty’ is not sovereignty at all: It is just a fence-straddling way out for those who are conflicted about their support for labor unions and their support for tribes and the inherent sovereignty they possess,” Keel wrote recently in The Hill. “But in policymaking, as in life, choices define who we are and what we value.”

Keel argued the 2004 change is a clear and direct violation of tribes’ inherent sovereign rights: “It is discriminatory, and an outrage.”

The bill passed in the House last month. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Oklahoma, a member of the Chickasaw Nation, hopes to attach the Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act to an upcoming appropriations measure, which lawmakers in both chambers must pass by the end of March to avoid a government shutdown.

The bill got support from both Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate. Still, on Monday, the majority of Democrats voted against it. Republicans are likely finding it easy to support, as their party is traditionally unsupportive of unions, and many Democrats see it as an issue shaped not by the sovereign rights of tribes but by the rights of workers to unionize.

Sen. Tom Udall, D-New Mexico, noted that bills from the Indian affairs committee generally receive the support of both parties, but Monday’s vote was divided, which Udall noted when addressing his colleagues.

“For the first time in ten years, this chamber just debated an Indian affairs bill using valuable floor time, not unanimous consent,” he said. Udall expressed displeasure at being excluded from the drafting process in spite of his role as the vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and chided his colleagues for dragging their feet for years when it comes to Indian Country writ large.

“Over this decade, in which both Democrats and Republicans have held the majority, Indian Country has seen its priorities sidelined,” he said. “Important legislations that touches the lives of Native veterans, Native families, and Native communities from Maine to Hawaii, from Florida to Alaska, makes it out of the Indian Affairs committee only to die waiting on the Senate legislative calendar.”

That includes measures such as the Native American Housing and Assistance and Self Determination Reauthorization Act, which would provide federal assistance for affordable housing in low-income areas of tribal lands, and the Progress for Indian Tribes Act, which could streamline the Department of the Interior’s self-governance process for tribes. Both have bipartisan support and have not received a hearing, Udall said. “It’s shameful that this full body does not resolve these important issues facing Indian Country.”

On that point, it’s hard to disagree. Tribes and Indigenous communities have never been properly represented in Congress, a problem more and more Native Americans are hoping to personally help rectify by running for office. If anything, what happened on the House floor Monday was yet another example of why it is important to have Indigenous lawmakers at the table when deciding what is best for Indian Country. Like Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero, a New Mexico state lawmaker of Piro-Manso-Tiwa ancestry, told me recently, even if just a few Indigenous lawmakers make it to Congress the results could be significant.

“Through our eyes, we know that through our history that just three or four of us can be resounding,” Roybal Caballero said.

Wado.

Graham Lee Brewer is a contributing editor at High Country News and a member of the Cherokee Nation. 

We're ad free

That means that we rely on support from readers like you. Help us keep reporting on the most important New Mexico Stories by donating today.

Related

Lujan Grisham pocket vetoes two bills

Lujan Grisham pocket vetoes two bills

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham pocket vetoed two bills the legislature passed this legislative session: one changing the Cybersecurity Act and the other concerning law…
Gov signs bills with some vetoes 

Gov signs bills with some vetoes 

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed 69 bills that the legislature passed during the 2024 legislative session. These included the General Appropriations Act which contains…
Guv signs state budget

Guv signs state budget

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the budget bill for Fiscal Year 2025 and the Capital Outlay spending bill. The FY25 state budget bill passed…
State fines oil company more than $2 million after spill

State fines oil company more than $2 million after spill

The Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department fined an oil and gas company operating in the Permian Basin more than $2 million over produced…
PRC denies request to build LNG storage facility

PRC denies request to build LNG storage facility

The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission unanimously rejected a request by the New Mexico Gas Co. to build, own and operate a liquified natural…
NM Supreme Court upholds Community Solar Rule

NM Supreme Court upholds Community Solar Rule

Hours after the New Mexico Supreme Court heard arguments in the investor-owned utilities’ appeal of the community solar rule, the justices upheld the regulations…
Amid new graduation requirements, what do high schoolers want to learn?

Amid new graduation requirements, what do high schoolers want to learn?

By Margaret O’Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican The main things that bring Brayan Chavez to school every day: Seeing, talking to and engaging with…
Special ed teachers hope lawmakers OK pay raises, admin changes

Special ed teachers hope lawmakers OK pay raises, admin changes

By Margaret O’Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican Brittany Behenna Griffith has a laundry list of adjectives to describe the ideal special education teacher:…
Lawmakers must find consensus on competing education spending plans

Lawmakers must find consensus on competing education spending plans

By Margaret O’Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican A challenging task awaits New Mexico lawmakers in the next 30 days: Reconciling three very different…
Lujan Grisham, Biden admin announce $10 million in federal funds for tribes, pueblos

Lujan Grisham, Biden admin announce $10 million in federal funds for tribes, pueblos

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Friday $10 million in funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act was awarded to six tribal nations and…
Proposal to curb executive powers moves to House Judiciary

Proposal to curb executive powers moves to House Judiciary

The House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee discussed a potential constitutional amendment that seeks to limit the governor’s executive powers. The committee approved…
Supreme Court censures attorney over conduct in anti-COVID policy suits

Supreme Court censures attorney over conduct in anti-COVID policy suits

The New Mexico State Supreme Court censured a New Mexico attorney because of her “misconduct” in two unsuccessful cases pushing back on COVID-19 regulations…
Supreme Court to hear two abortion cases this spring

Supreme Court to hear two abortion cases this spring

Later this month, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the case against the abortion medication mifepristone. It will hear a second…
How Biden, others highlighted reproductive rights at the State of the Union

How Biden, others highlighted reproductive rights at the State of the Union

President Joe Biden highlighted reproductive rights issues as part of his State of the Union speech Thursday. Biden delivered his 2024 State of the…
Stansbury invites OB-GYN doctor as her state of the union guest 

Stansbury invites OB-GYN doctor as her state of the union guest 

U.S. House of Rep. Melanie Stansbury has invited an OB-GYN doctor from Roswell as her guest for President Joe Biden’s State of the Union…
Supreme Court to hear two abortion cases this spring

Supreme Court to hear two abortion cases this spring

Later this month, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the case against the abortion medication mifepristone. It will hear a second…
How Biden, others highlighted reproductive rights at the State of the Union

How Biden, others highlighted reproductive rights at the State of the Union

President Joe Biden highlighted reproductive rights issues as part of his State of the Union speech Thursday. Biden delivered his 2024 State of the…
Stansbury invites OB-GYN doctor as her state of the union guest 

Stansbury invites OB-GYN doctor as her state of the union guest 

U.S. House of Rep. Melanie Stansbury has invited an OB-GYN doctor from Roswell as her guest for President Joe Biden’s State of the Union…
See who’s going to be on your primary ballot in June

See who’s going to be on your primary ballot in June

Tuesday marked the official beginning of the 2024 New Mexico primary season for the legislature, with candidates officially filing for candidacy. This is the…

Bill to require disclosure of use of AI in campaign materials goes to governor

The Senate approved a bill aiming to require the disclosure of the use of artificial intelligence or other changes made by computers to campaign…
House amends, passes bill banning firearms near polling places

House amends, passes bill banning firearms near polling places

The House narrowly approved a bill that would ban firearms near polling places. The House voted 35-34 to pass the bill following an extensive…
U.S. Supreme Court lets ban on Couy Griffin from holding office stand

U.S. Supreme Court lets ban on Couy Griffin from holding office stand

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of a Republican official who was barred from holding office after being convicted for a…
Politics Newsletter: legislative leaders not running for reelection

Politics Newsletter: legislative leaders not running for reelection

Hello fellow political junkies! Candidate filing day has come and gone, and members of House and Senate leadership opted to either not seek reelection…
Lujan Grisham, Biden admin announce $10 million in federal funds for tribes, pueblos

Lujan Grisham, Biden admin announce $10 million in federal funds for tribes, pueblos

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Friday $10 million in funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act was awarded to six tribal nations and…

GET INVOLVED

© 2023 New Mexico Political Report