ULP 5744

ULP-5744                     City of Cranston & International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 251     3/26/07

Impact: Major
Nominal Beneficiary: Labor
Actual Beneficiary: Labor

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

Citing the National Labor Relations Board and aligning RI with it, the state labor relations board upheld the concept that the union has a special position with regard to access to confidential information on employees it represents and does not necessarily require their consent to access that information despite other government laws and employer polices in this area. See New Jersev Bell Telephone Co., 289 NLRB 318 (1988) (“One of the  consequences of collective bargaining is that it subordinates the particular interests of individual employees to the collective interest of the unit.”) This language makes it clear that while this is considered a victory for labor, it does not necessarily translate as a victory for laborers. That will depend upon the unique setting in which the rule is applied and whether the individual would have freely consented to the release of the information.