A federal labor official cleared the path Wednesday for table dealers at Foxwoods Resort Casino to vote on whether to unionize, a victory for the United Auto Workers, which is trying to organize 3,000 dealers at the southeastern Connecticut casino.

The decision by Peter B. Hoffman, a regional director of the National Labor Relations Board, rejected arguments from the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, which had contended that the NLRB does not have jurisdiction over the casino on its reservation.

The UAW expects a vote to be held within the next month, even if tribal leaders appeal the decision to the full, five-member labor relations board in Washington, D.C.