ULP 5833

ULP-5833                     State of RI - Department of Elderly Affairs & RI Council 94,                  12/16/08
                                    AFSCME, AFL-CIO

Filed by: Labor
Impact: Major
Nominal Beneficiary: Labor
Actual Beneficiary: Labor

Dissent: Goldstein-M, Dolan-M, Jordan-P

The state contracted for previously unavailable nighttime response on the elder abuse hotline, (had been handled by an answering machine that was cleared by union personnel in the morning). The state contended that the service differed from that provided during the day because it included clinical response although this only happened in a small number of cases. The union saw the service as essentially the same as the offered by union employees during the day. The lack of previous provision of an after hours emergency response and its test provision by a contractor was held by the board to be substantially the same services provided by union employees during the day and thus a subject which the state was bound to bargain over.