Atlantic City: Bally's appeals forced sit-down with dealers' union

[Earth Bound Misfit]

Source: Press of Atlantic City

ATLANTIC CITY - Bally's Atlantic City is appealing the federal labor board decision requiring it to sit down with the United Auto Workers union and collaborate on a contract for casino dealers.

A review of the appeal is now pending in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, which can rule whether to overturn or uphold the decision by the National Labor Relations Board, or NLRB.

But an NLRB spokeswoman in Washington, D.C., said Tuesday that the labor board has filed a motion to dismiss the review for "lack of jurisdiction."

"Our position is it's not in the proper court," spokeswoman Patricia Gilbert said.

The NLRB does not believe the case should be reviewed in the 5th Circuit, although Gilbert could not elaborate why.



A spokeswoman for Harrah's Entertainment, which owns Bally's, did not return a call Tuesday seeking comment.
In June 2007, dealers at Bally's voted 628-255 for union representation. Bally's challenged the election process, claiming that the UAW had threatened dealers who did not support its organizing efforts.

The NLRB certified the election results earlier this year, but Bally's declined to negotiate a contract, which has led to the case moving forward to a Court of Appeals.

The UAW's bid to secure contracts for dealers at other Atlantic City casinos has been slow-going, as well. The union filed charges against Tropicana Casino and Resort on Monday for allegedly bargaining "in bad faith," which the casino has disputed. The NLRB will investigate the charges.

"We're still meeting, but we're not getting anywhere," said Scott Montani, a UAW representative for the Tropicana contract

Edit to add link: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/106/story/259993.html

[zbdent]

1. so, the NLRB is bucking following the rules it set in place?

[Earth Bound Misfit]

2. Actually the NLRB has issued numerous decisions FAVORABLE

to the UAW and casino workers at both the Regional (Phila) and National (DC) levels. Harrah's Entertainment, who owns Bally's, fought to have the appeal heard at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. The UAW contends that the case should be heard in the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over NJ, Del & Pa.

Harrah's (which was recently purchased by private equity giant Apollo-Texas Pacific) wanted the case heard in the south (GEE, I wonder why), rather than in the Union "friendly" Northeast, for numerous reasons, not the least of which is the fact that Maryanne Trump Barry (sister of "The Donald", whose Trump Plaza Casino in AC is facing attempts to Unionize by it's Dealers also) is a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. It is their contention that the case be moved from the 3rd Circuit to avoid any suggestions of impropriety or bias.

The NLRB, (SHOCKINGLY) seems to be attempting to BLOCK a possible unfavorable (to the Union) ruling by a Court which seemingly has very little, if any, jurisdiction in this case.