NEW BRITAIN, Conn. – The Schaghticoke Tribal Nation and the state’s
construction trades voiced mutual support at the signing of a comprehensive
agreement that guarantees the tribe’s future economic development projects,
including a casino, would be built with union labor.

The signing between tribal leaders and union officials took place Sept. 14
at the Connecticut Building and Trade Council’s annual meeting, attended by
approximately 100 people.

The council represents more than 15 trades, including, in part, operating
engineers, bricklayers, ironworkers, glaziers, roofers, sheet metal
workers, electricians, plumbers and carpenters.

The BIA is scheduled to render the tribe’s reconsidered final determination
on Oct. 12. The tribe was granted federal acknowledgement in January 2004.
That decision was vacated in May by the Interior Board of Indian Appeals on
appeal by state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and the town of Kent,
where the 300-member tribe has a 400-acre reservation on Schaghticoke
Mountain. The tribe has pending land claims for around 2,150 acres of
undeveloped land adjacent to its reservation. In 1736 the colonial
government set aside 2,500 acres for the tribe.

The tribe intends to build a casino in the city of Bridgeport or another
welcoming community and build houses for tribal members on the reservation,
which is located in a rural, hilly area of the state.

“Unions are about fairness; and at its core, federal recognition is about
fairness,” said council President Benedict Cozzi. “As [the] first
Americans, they deserve this basic American right.”

The building trades council, Cozzi said, “is dedicated to creating
opportunities for Connecticut’s working families, including fair wages,
decent benefits and good working conditions. Today, the tribe’s commitment
to good wages and benefits for the people of Connecticut is clear, and so
is our support for the tribe’s efforts to remove the political influence
from the tribal recognition process,” Cozzi said.

While the trade unions have had “great relationships” with other tribes,
“this signing of a project labor agreement for all future work the tribe
may do is unprecedented in the state of Connecticut,” Cozzi said.

Schaghticoke Tribal Nation Chief Richard Velky thanked Cozzi for his “warm
welcome.”

Velky, a former printer, was a union member and organizer in the 1970s.

The labor agreement and support from the trade unions is part of a
“fairness campaign” launched by the tribe recently to counter the furious
opposition to the tribe’s federal status mounted by Connecticut officials
and members of an anticasino, anti-Indian sovereignty organization called
TASK – Town Action to Save Kent.

In August, through information revealed during depositions, the tribe
accused them of violating a federal court order by using the private
citizens group and its high-powered lobbyists to influence Interior
Department officials.

“The reason we are here today is to let our opponents know there are people
who want to see the tribe receive a fair process. The tribal recognition
process should be kept fair and free from political influence. It’s with a
warm heart that this tribe thanks every one of you for your support. We
will achieve our federal recognition and we will partner in this project
labor agreement and we will construct buildings in the near future,” Velky
said.

Blumenthal spoke to reporters.

“It’s not about casino-building or jobs. It’s a matter of whether the tribe
meets the criteria. If they fall short, they can’t be recognized, no matter
how many jobs they promise to offer,” Blumenthal said.

In remarks to the press, Velky said he believed fear was being instilled
into the people of Kent about a casino and land uses.

“And the fear doesn’t come from us; it comes from the politicians telling
[the townspeople] not to believe what the tribe says. Until the town of
Kent and [its] residents sit down with the tribe and realize what the tribe
is saying is the truth, then I don’t think the fear will disappear. They’re
worried about the land. We’ve been stewards of the land for hundreds of
years and we’ll continue to be stewards of the land. We are looking to go
back to our reservation and build our homes there.” Velky said.