2015 -- H 5180

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2015

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- PUBLIC EMPLOYEE

ORGANIZATION

     Introduced By: Representatives Blazejewski, Johnston, Hull, Bennett, and McKiernan

     Date Introduced: January 21, 2015

     Referred To: House Labor

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Sections 28-7-3, 28-7-14, 28-7-16 and 28-7-40 of the General Laws in

Chapter 28-7 entitled "Labor Relations Act" are hereby amended to read as follows:

     28-7-3. Definitions. -- When used in this chapter:

      (1) "Board" means the labor relations board created by § 28-7-4.

      (2) "Company union" means any committee employee representation plan or association

of employees which exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employers

concerning grievances or terms and conditions of employment, which the employer has initiated

or created or whose initiation or creation he or she has suggested, participated in or in the

formulation of whose governing rules or policies or the conducting of whose management,

operations, or elections the employer participates in or supervises, or which the employer

maintains, finances, controls, dominates, or assists in maintaining or financing, whether by

compensating any one for services performed in its behalf or by donating free services,

equipment, materials, office or meeting space or any thing else of value, or by any other means.

      (3) (i) "Employees" includes, but is not restricted to, any individual employed by a labor

organization; any individual whose employment has ceased as a consequence of, or in connection

with, any current labor dispute or because of any unfair labor practice, and who has not obtained

any other regular and substantially equivalent employment; and shall not be limited to the

employees of a particular employer, unless the chapter explicitly states otherwise;

      (ii) "Employees" does not include any individual employed by his or her parent or

spouse or in the domestic service of any person in his or her home, or any individuals employed

only for the duration of a labor dispute, or any individuals employed as farm laborers.

      (4) "Employer" includes any person acting on behalf of or in the interest of an employer,

directly or indirectly, with or without his or her knowledge, but a labor organization or any officer

or its agent shall only be considered an employer with respect to individuals employed by the

organization.

      (5) "Labor dispute" includes, but is not restricted to, any controversy between employers

and employees or their representatives as defined in this section concerning terms, tenure, or

conditions of employment or concerning the association or representation of persons in

negotiating, fixing, maintaining, changing, or seeking to negotiate, fix, maintain, or change terms

or conditions of employment, or concerning the violation of any of the rights granted or affirmed

by this chapter, regardless of whether the disputants stand in the proximate relation of employer

and employee.

      (6) "Labor organization" means any organization which exists and is constituted for the

purpose, in whole or in part, of collective bargaining, or of dealing with employers concerning

grievances, terms or conditions of employment, or of other mutual aid or protection and which is

not a company union as defined in this section.

      (7) "Person" includes one or more individuals, partnerships, associations, corporations,

legal representatives, trustees, trustees in bankruptcy, or receivers.

      (8) "Policies of this chapter" means the policies set forth in § 28-7-2.

     (9) "Public employee" includes an individual employed by the state, subdivision of the

state, or quasi-public entities.

      (9)(10) "Representatives" includes a labor organization or an individual whether or not

employed by the employer of those whom he or she represents.

      (10)(11) "Unfair labor practice" means only those unfair labor practices listed in §§ 28-

7-13 and 28-7-13.1.

     28-7-14. Exclusive representation of employees. -- Representatives designated or

selected for the purposes of collective bargaining by the majority of the employees in a unit

appropriate for those purposes, or by the majority of the employees voting in an election

conducted pursuant to §§ 28-7-15 -- 28-7-19, as evidenced by signed authorization cards by

public employees or otherwise, shall be the exclusive representatives of all the employees in the

appropriate unit for the purposes of collective bargaining in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours

of employment, or other conditions of employment; provided, that employees, directly or through

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representatives, shall have the right at any time to present grievances to their employer.

     28-7-16. Controversies as to representation. -- (a) Whenever it is alleged by an

employee or his or her representative that there is a question or controversy concerning the

representation of employees, the board shall investigate the question or controversy and certify in

writing to all persons concerned the name or names of the representatives who have been

designated or selected.

      (b) Whenever it is alleged by an employer or his or her representative that there is a

question or controversy concerning the representation of employees, the board shall investigate

the question or controversy after a public hearing held upon due notice.

      (c) In any investigation the board shall provide for an appropriate hearing upon due

notice, either in conjunction with a proceeding under §§ 28-7-21 -- 28-7-25 or otherwise, and

may conduct an election by secret ballot of employees, or use any other suitable method to

ascertain the representatives either before or after the hearing; however, the board shall certify an

exclusive representative for the purposes of collective bargaining upon evidence in writing by

authorization cards demonstrating interest in union representation by seventy percent (70%) of

public employees in a bargaining unit. In the absence of such evidence for a unit comprised of

public employees the board shall conduct a secret ballot election upon such terms as it shall

determine; provided, that the board does not have authority to investigate any question or

controversy between individuals or groups within the same labor organization or between labor

organizations affiliated with the same parent labor organization.

     (d) Any employer or labor organization may bring a complaint that a party has engaged

in coercion during a bid to achieve representation. An allegation shall be investigated by the

board. A violation shall be subject to a penalty specified in § 28-7-40.

     28-7-40. Penalty for violations. -- Any person who willfully resists, prevents, impedes,

or interferes with any member of the board or any of its agents or agencies in the performance of

duties pursuant to this chapter, or who in any manner interferes with the free exercise by

employees of their right to select representatives in an election directed by the board pursuant to

§§ 28-7-14 -- 28-7-19, shall be punished by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars

($5,000), or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- PUBLIC EMPLOYEE

ORGANIZATION

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     This act would amend the definitions of this chapter to include public employees and

would authorize the labor board to certify and recognize union representatives that submit

authorization cards signed by seventy percent (70%) of its members. It would also empower the

board to investigate and prosecute coercion by union representatives.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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