Mohegan, trade unions sign no-strike agreement

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2008/04/16/3391117.htm

April 16, 2008]

(Indian Country Today (Oneida, NY) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Apr. 16--UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- The Mohegan Tribe and a council of trade unions have signed a project labor agreement for the tribe's $925 million expansion project, guaranteeing only union labor will be used in exchange for a promise of no strikes.

A signing ceremony took place April 1 at the Mohegan Sun Hotel with representatives of the Mohegan Tribe, the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, the New London-Norwich Building and Construction Trades Council, and Skanska and The Keating Group. The latter two firms are involved in Project Horizon, the tribe's expansion development.

"We've always used union workers to build our facility since phase one started here. It was an unwritten agreement. They were here providing a large labor force. We're on phase three now. Now we've finalized it on paper that we would use their labor force to complete our Project Horizon. We felt it was time to do a formal agreement so we can ensure we do get the project done on time," said Mohegan Chairman Bruce "Two Dogs" Bozsum.

Ed Riley, president of the New Long-Norwich Building and Construction Trades Council and business manager of the Ironworkers Union, said the PLA is mutually beneficial.

"The project labor agreement guarantees there will be no strikes at all at the project and in exchange the unions are guaranteed the jobs. In project labor agreements, there's always a provision for a resolution of any problem," he said.

The Project Horizon expansion will add a new 950-room hotel with 260 House of Blues-themed hotel rooms, along with a House of Blues Music Hall, an exclusive members-only House of Blues Foundation room. The expansion will add 115,000 square feet of additional retail and restaurant space, as well as a new 64,000-square-foot gaming facility called Casino of the Wind, which will include a themed poker room. The casino and a Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville restaurant will open in the summer, Bozsum said.

FULL story at link.