Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act: Federal Labor Law Jurisdiction Expanded to Include Tribal Businesses on Indian Lands

The Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act of 2025 is a technical but impactful piece of legislation that changes who gets counted as an “employer” under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Essentially, this bill brings Indian Tribes and their businesses, provided they are located on tribal land, under the umbrella of federal labor law.

The Fine Print: What Changes for Tribal Enterprises

Before this Act, the application of the NLRA—the federal law governing unionization, collective bargaining, and unfair labor practices—to tribal entities was often murky, leading to jurisdictional disputes. This bill clears that up by explicitly adding “any Indian Tribe, or any business or organization owned and run by an Indian Tribe” to the definition of employer in the NLRA, as long as the business is located on what the bill defines as “Indian Lands.” The bill provides clear definitions for “Indian Tribe,” “Indian,” and the various categories of “Indian Lands,” which include reservations and trust lands. For busy people, this means that if you work for a tribal-owned casino, manufacturing plant, or retail outlet located on tribal land, your workplace is now definitively subject to the same federal labor rules as a non-tribal business down the road.

Real-World Impact: New Rules for the Workplace

For employees working in these tribal enterprises—which can range from large resorts to essential services—this change is significant. It extends the full range of NLRA protections, including the right to organize a union, engage in collective bargaining, and protections against employer retaliation for labor activities. If you’re a line cook at a tribal-owned restaurant, for example, this legislation confirms your right to seek better wages or working conditions through a union, enforced by the federal National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). This provides a legal certainty that may not have existed before.

On the flip side, tribal governments and the businesses they run now have to comply with the federal labor framework. While this provides clarity, it also means new administrative burdens and potential limitations on how they manage their workforce. For a tribal government, this means that their economic enterprises, which are vital for funding essential services for their communities, must now navigate federal regulations regarding hiring, firing, and labor relations. This could be seen as a challenge to tribal sovereignty—the inherent right of tribes to govern themselves—by imposing federal standards on internal economic matters, even if those standards are meant to protect workers.