Chapter 418 |
2025 -- H 5187 SUBSTITUTE A AS AMENDED Enacted 07/02/2025 |
A N A C T |
RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- LABOR RELATIONS ACT |
Introduced By: Representatives Corvese, J. Brien, Noret, Azzinaro, DeSimone, Potter, Bennett, Hull, Read, and O'Brien |
Date Introduced: January 24, 2025 |
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
SECTION 1. Sections 28-7-2, 28-7-3, 28-7-9, 28-7-21 and 28-7-22 of the General Laws in |
Chapter 28-7 entitled "Labor Relations Act" are hereby amended to read as follows: |
28-7-2. Policy of chapter. |
(a) The economic necessity for employees to possess full freedom of association, actual |
liberty of contract, and bargaining power equal to that of their employers, who are frequently |
organized in corporate or other forms of association, has long been sanctioned by public opinion, |
and recognized and affirmed by legislatures and the highest courts. As the modern industrial system |
has progressed, there has developed between and among employees and employers an ever greater |
economic interdependence and community of interest which have become matters of vital public |
concern. Employers and employees have recognized that the peaceable practice and wholesome |
development of that relationship and interest are materially aided by the general adoption and |
advancement of the procedure and practice of bargaining collectively as between equals. It is in the |
public interest that equality of bargaining power be established and maintained. It is likewise |
recognized that the denial by some employers of the right of employees freely to organize and the |
resultant refusal to accept the procedure of collective bargaining substantially and adversely affect |
the interest of employees, other employers, and the public in general. This denial creates variations |
and instability in competitive wage rates and working conditions within and between industries and |
between employees and employers engaged in those industries, and by depressing the purchasing |
power of wage earners and the profits of business, tends to: |
(1) Produce and aggravate recurrent business depressions; |
(2) Increase the disparity between production and consumption; |
(3) Create unemployment with its attendant dangers to the health, peace and morale of the |
people; and |
(4) Increase public and private expenditures for relief of the needy and the unemployed. |
(b) When some employers deny the right of employees to full freedom of association and |
organization, and refuse to recognize the practice and procedure of collective bargaining, their |
actions lead to strikes, lockouts, and other forms of industrial strife and unrest which are inimical |
to the public safety and welfare, and frequently endanger the public health. |
(c) Experience has proved that protection by law of the right of employees to organize and |
bargain collectively removes certain recognized sources of industrial strife and unrest, encourages |
practices fundamental to the friendly adjustment of industrial disputes arising out of differences as |
to wages, hours, or other working conditions, and tends to restore equality of bargaining power |
between and among employers and employees, thereby advancing the interests of employers as |
well as employees. |
(d) In the interpretation and application of this chapter and otherwise, it is declared to be |
the public policy of the state to encourage the practice and procedure of collective bargaining, and |
to protect employees, when not already protected by the National Labor Relations Board, 29 U.S.C. |
§§151-169 in the exercise of full freedom of association, self organization, and designation of |
representatives of their own choosing for the purposes of collective bargaining, or other mutual aid |
and protection, free from the interference, restraint, or coercion of their employers. |
(e) All the provisions of this chapter shall be liberally construed for the accomplishment of |
this purpose. |
(f) This chapter shall be deemed an exercise of the police power of the state for the |
protection of the public welfare, prosperity, health, and peace of the people of the state. |
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 that exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employers concerning |
grievances or terms and conditions of employment, that the employer has initiated or created or |
whose initiation or creation he or she hasthey have 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 anything 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 hertheir parent or |
spouse or in the domestic service of any person in his or hertheir home, or any individuals |
employed only for the duration of a labor dispute, or any individuals employed as farm laborers; |
provided that, any individual employed by an employer in an industry established or regulated |
pursuant to chapters 28.6 or 28.11 of title 21 shall be an employee within the meaning of this |
chapter and shall not be considered a farm laborer.; |
(iii) "Employee" specifically includes any teaching assistants, research assistants, fellows, |
residential assistants and proctors who perform services for an employer in return for payment or |
other compensation, notwithstanding whether the employee is a student, or the supervised teaching, |
research, or other services are a component of their academic development. |
(4) “Employer” includes any person acting on behalf of or in the interest of an employer, |
directly or indirectly, with or without his or hertheir 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 that 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) “Representatives” includes a labor organization or an individual whether or not |
employed by the employer of those whom he or she represents. |
(10) “Unfair labor practice” means only those unfair labor practices listed in §§ 28-7-13 |
and 28-7-13.1. |
28-7-9. Rules and regulations. |
(a) The board shall have authority from time to time to make, amend, and rescind any rules |
and regulations that may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter including the |
determination of the life of the selected representatives. The rules and regulations shall be effective |
upon publication in the manner that the board prescribes. |
(b) The rules and regulations for state and municipal employees shall include, but not be |
limited to, the following: |
(1) The board shall require a labor organization to submit cards of interest signed by at |
least thirty percent (30%) of the employees in the appropriate bargaining unit indicating a desire to |
be represented by the labor organization so designated. Cards of interest signed by at least twenty |
percent (20%) of the employees in the appropriate bargaining unit shall be required to intervene. |
The board shall certify the authenticity of all cards of interest submitted. |
(2) The board shall not consider a petition for representation whenever it appears that a |
collective bargaining agreement is in existence; provided, that the board may consider a petition |
within a thirty-day (30) period immediately preceding sixty (60) days prior to the expiration date |
of the collective bargaining agreement. |
(3) A petition for unit clarification may be filed at any time with the board by: |
(i) An exclusive bargaining agent; |
(ii) The applicable municipality; or |
(iii) The state where appropriate. |
(4) In addition to the provisions of § 28-7-22, the board is empowered to order complete |
relief upon a finding of any unfair labor practice. |
(5) All charges of unfair labor practices and petitions for unit classification shall be |
informally heard by the board within thirty (30) days upon receipt of the charges or petitions. |
Within sixty (60) days of the charges or petition the board shall hold a formal hearing. A final |
decision shall be rendered by the board within sixty (60) days after the hearing on the charges or |
petition is completed and a transcript of the hearing is received by the board. |
(6) The board shall establish standards for deferring a pending unfair labor practice charge |
to allow for the grievance and arbitration process to move forward pursuant to the charging parties’ |
collective bargaining agreement. |
(c) Insofar as the provisions of this section are inconsistent with the provisions of chapter |
11 of title 36 and chapter 9.4 of this title, the provisions of this section are controlling. |
(d) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to prevent or limit the board or its |
agents by direction of the board, consistent with published rules and regulations, from dismissing, |
after investigation and informal hearings, the unfair labor practices charge. All unit classification |
petitions shall receive a formal hearing if requested by either party. The board or its agents shall |
maintain a written record of any dismissals. |
(e) The board shall promulgate the appropriate rules and regulations allowing for the |
electronic filing of cards of interest, decertification signature cards, signature affirmation |
documents, and designation of bargaining agent and waiver of right-to-vote forms. |
28-7-21. Complaints of unfair practices — Parties to proceedings — Rules of |
evidence. |
(a) Whenever a charge has been made that any employer or public sector employee |
organization, as provided in § 28-7-13.1, has engaged in or is engaging in any unfair labor practice, |
the board shall have the power to issue and cause to be served upon the party a complaint stating |
those charges in that respect and containing a notice of a hearing before the board at a place fixed |
in the complaint, to be held not less than seven (7) days after the serving of the complaint. Any |
complaint may be amended by the board or its agent conducting the hearing at any time prior to the |
issuance of an order based on the complaint. The person complained of shall have the right to file |
an answer to the original or amended complaint within five (5) days after the service of the original |
or amended complaint and to appear in person or otherwise to give testimony at the place and time |
set in the complaint. In the discretion of a member or agent conducting the hearing, or of the board, |
any other person may be allowed to intervene in the proceedings and to present testimony. In any |
proceeding the board or its agent is not bound by technical rules of evidence prevailing in the courts. |
(b) The board shall have jurisdiction to issue a complaint and make a ruling on any unfair |
labor practice charge, notwithstanding a pending grievance on the same or similar issue. |
28-7-22. Testimony at hearing — Decision and orders. |
(a) The testimony shall be taken at the hearing and the board in its discretion may upon |
notice take further testimony or hear argument. The testimony so taken or heard shall not be reduced |
to writing unless an appeal is taken as provided in this chapter by an aggrieved party or unless a |
transcript is required for proceedings in the superior court. |
(b)(1) If upon all the testimony taken the board determines that the respondent has engaged |
in or is engaging in any unfair labor practice, the board shall state its findings of fact and shall issue |
and cause to be served on the respondent an order requiring the respondent to cease and desist from |
the unfair labor practice, and to take any further affirmative or other action that will effectuate the |
policies of this chapter, including, but not limited to: |
(i) Withdrawal of recognition from and refraining from bargaining collectively with any |
employee organization or association, agency, or plan defined in this chapter as a company union, |
or established, maintained, or assisted by any action defined in this chapter as an unfair labor |
practice; |
(ii) Awarding of back pay; |
(iii) Reinstatement with or without back pay of any employee discriminated against in |
violation of § 28-7-13, or maintenance of a preferential list from which the employee shall be |
returned to work; and |
(iv) Reinstatement with or without back pay of all employees whose work has ceased or |
whose return to work has been delayed or prevented as the result of the aforementioned or any other |
unfair labor practice in respect to any employee or employees or maintenance of a preferential list |
from which the employees shall be returned to work. |
(2) The order may further require the person to make file reports from time to time, showing |
the extent to which the order has been complied with. |
(c) If upon all the testimony the board is of the opinion that the person or persons named |
in the complaint have not engaged in or are not engaging in any unfair labor practice, the board |
shall make its findings of fact and issue an order dismissing the complaint. |
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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LC000633/SUB A/2 |
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