R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-10-3: “Labor dispute” defined.

(a) “Labor dispute” includes any controversy concerning terms or conditions of employment, or concerning the association or representation of persons in negotiating, fixing, maintaining, changing, or seeking to arrange terms or conditions of employment, regardless of whether or not the disputants stand in the proximate relation of employer and employee.

(b) “Labor dispute” does not include any controversy arising out of a demand that an employer recognize or bargain with a labor organization while another labor organization is the representative of employees in the unit as certified by the state labor relations commission or the national labor relations board, prior to the conduct of a new investigation and certification of representatives by the commission or board, or when a bona fide union has a valid existing contract made at a time prior to any current dispute when it represented a majority of the employees covered by the contract.