Rhode Island Supreme Court rules on union arbitration

February 15, 2012

Rhode Island: The Rhode Island Supreme Court ruled that unions can appoint non-lawyers to represent them in arbitration proceedings. In a 2008 collective bargaining agreement between the Town of Little Compton and its firefighters union, one of the firefighters was appointed to represent the union in arbitration. The town challenged this move, since he was not a lawyer, but the Supreme Court upheld the union's choice. Justices Suttell and Robinson did not participate in the decision.