Rhode Island § 28-7-3 - Labor Relations Act

§ 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 they 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 their parent or spouse or in the domestic service of any person in the person's 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 chapter 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 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 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.