PROVIDENCE — Sen. John J. Tassoni Jr. has been cleared for takeoff as a mediator by the Rhode Island Ethics Commission — “if I get a phone call,” he says.

The commission voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve an advisory opinion allowing the Smithfield Democrat and former business agent for Rhode Island’s largest state-employee union to remain on a state purchasing-division list of qualified mediators and arbitrators.

That will enable Tassoni to participate in the state’s master-price agreement, with listed fees of $125 per hour or $1,000 a day. But it won’t allow him to mediate state labor disputes, which the commission said would be in conflict with his job as a state senator.

That was fine with Tassoni, who said that he never intended to seek work mediating state labor disputes. Not only has he been a senator for nine years, chairing the Senate Committee on Housing & Municipal Government and serving on the Senate Labor Committee, but he also worked as business agent for Council 94 of the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees.

Instead, Tassoni said that he sought inclusion on the list because it is also used by cities and towns seeking a mediator, as well as private businesses and insurance companies seeking help in resolving disputes.

As an added precaution, Tassoni pledged not to take any mediation work for the two towns in his district, Smithfield and North Smithfield.

Tassoni, who had contemplated a 2010 run for lieutenant governor before incumbent Elizabeth Roberts opted to seek reelection, left Council 94 in the spring and formed The Sentinel Group, providing public relations, marketing, business development and dispute resolution.

In August, he asked to be placed on the state purchasing division’s list of qualified mediators and arbitrators. Tassoni’s inclusion on the list had generated controversy for another reason — because aides to Governor Carcieri allowed him to be placed on the list despite his lacking a college degree, one of the minimum qualifications. But Carcieri lawyers ruled, and Director of Administration Gary Sasse agreed, that the totality of Tassoni’s experience qualified him to be on the list.

After the Ethics Commission issued its advisory opinion on Tuesday, Tassoni said that his phone has yet to ring with any mediation work — but that he is keeping busy providing marketing, public relations and business consulting to private clients. He said he can’t disclose the identity of his clients, because it’s confidential.

He said that he only envisioned mediation work as part of his business — but a part that his years of experience in the worlds of business and labor have uniquely qualified him for.

“There’s a misconception by those who threw me under the bus for not having a college degree that I’m not qualified,” said Tassoni, a 1976 graduate of Smithfield High School who also worked for Amica Insurance for 10 years. “Well, I’ve been doing this for 20 years. I’ve had OJT — on-the-job training.”

mstanton@projo.com