Sky River Casino Legal Timeline

  • 2017

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    Card Check

    • The Wilton Rancheria and Boyd Gaming signed a card check agreement with UNITE HERE in 2017.
    • Pursuant to the agreement, if 50% + 1 of the eligible workers at Sky River Casino sign union authorization cards, Wilton and Boyd would recognize the union.
    • The agreement also required UNITE HERE to actively support Wilton’s Tribal Gaming Compact.

  • Card Check

    • The union did its part and fulfilled its obligation under the agreement by testifying in August, 2018.
    • Click above to see former UNITE HERE Political Director Jack Gribbon’s testimony in support of Wilton’s tribal gaming compact.
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    2018

  • Summer of 2023

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    Super Majority on Cards!

    • Local 49 informed Sky River Casino that more than 50% of the workers at Sky River Casino signed union authorization cards.
    • The tribe and Boyd did not take steps to count the cards or recognize the union.

    Two Arbitrators Uphold the Agreement

    • Instead of following the card check agreement, the tribe argued that a provision of the Compact, the TLRO, superseded the agreement. The Union disagreed, creating a dispute. The TLRO and the card check both have dispute resolution procedures. The union agreed to arbitrate the dispute under the TLRO.

  • Tribal Labor Relations Ordinance Arbitrator

    • An arbitrator – selected under the authority of the dispute resolution language in the Tribe’s labor relations ordinance (TLRO Section 13: Binding Dispute Resolution Mechanism) – ruled that the tribe must follow the card check agreement.
    • The tribe asked the US District Court for the Eastern District of California to vacate the arbitrator’s ruling. The Court refused.
    • The tribe has now appealed the district court’s ruling to the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
    • The card check process is continuing despite this appeal.
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    Spring of 2024

  • Spring of 2025

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    Card Check Arbitrator

    • An arbitrator selected under the card check agreement (Card Check Agreement Section 11) – in which all the parties consent to the entry of any order of the arbitrator as an order or judgement of the US District Court for the Eastern District – ruled that he will follow the card check agreement and count the cards.
    • The arbitrator found that the majority of workers at Sky River Casino signed cards and that the Card Check Agreements requires the tribe and Boyd to recognize the union.

    • The tribe and Boyd have not recognized the union.