PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – Sixteen Rhode Island municipalities are suing over a law signed by the governor this year to automatically extend expired municipal worker and teacher contracts.
The municipalities announced the lawsuit against the Democratic governor, House speaker and Senate president on Tuesday.
They say the law violates the state constitution and strips them of their authority to negotiate.
Gov. Gina Raimondo’s spokesman says they haven’t fully reviewed the lawsuit but are confident the narrowly-tailored law will stand.
Raimondo signed the House and Senate versions of a bill to automatically extend expired public employee contracts in May.
Raimondo said then it was a fair compromise that protects workers’ wages and benefits from unilateral cuts after a contract expires, while not binding municipalities to other provisions of the expired contract. She vetoed a similar plan in 2017.
