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91_SB0973
LRB9101053JMsb
1 AN ACT to amend the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act
2 by changing Sections 9 and 20.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Illinois Public Labor Relations Act is
6 amended by changing Sections 9 and 20 as follows:
7 (5 ILCS 315/9) (from Ch. 48, par. 1609)
8 Sec. 9. Elections; recognition.
9 (a) Whenever in accordance with such regulations as may
10 be prescribed by the Board a petition has been filed:
11 (1) by a public employee or group of public
12 employees or any labor organization acting in their
13 behalf demonstrating that 30% of the public employees in
14 an appropriate unit (A) wish to be represented for the
15 purposes of collective bargaining by a labor
16 organization as exclusive representative, or (B)
17 asserting that the labor organization which has been
18 certified or is currently recognized by the public
19 employer as bargaining representative is no longer the
20 representative of the majority of public employees in the
21 unit; or
22 (2) by a public employer alleging that one or more
23 labor organizations have presented to it a claim that
24 they be recognized as the representative of a majority of
25 the public employees in an appropriate unit, the Board
26 shall investigate such petition, and if it has reasonable
27 cause to believe that a question of representation
28 exists, shall provide for an appropriate hearing upon due
29 notice. Such hearing shall be held at the offices of the
30 Board or such other location as the Board deems
31 appropriate. If it finds upon the record of the hearing
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1 that a question of representation exists, it shall direct
2 an election in accordance with subsection (d) of this
3 Section, which election shall be held not later than 120
4 days after the date the petition was filed regardless of
5 whether that petition was filed before or after the
6 effective date of this amendatory Act of 1987; provided,
7 however, the Board may extend the time for holding an
8 election by an additional 60 days if, upon motion by a
9 person who has filed a petition under this Section or is
10 the subject of a petition filed under this Section and is
11 a party to such hearing, or upon the Board's own motion,
12 the Board finds that good cause has been shown for
13 extending the election date; provided further, that
14 nothing in this Section shall prohibit the Board, in its
15 discretion, from extending the time for holding an
16 election for so long as may be necessary under the
17 circumstances, where the purpose for such extension is to
18 permit resolution by the Board of an unfair labor
19 practice charge filed by one of the parties to a
20 representational proceeding against the other based upon
21 conduct which may either affect the existence of a
22 question concerning representation or have a tendency to
23 interfere with a fair and free election, where the party
24 filing the charge has not filed a request to proceed with
25 the election; and provided further that prior to the
26 expiration of the total time allotted for holding an
27 election, a person who has filed a petition under this
28 Section or is the subject of a petition filed under this
29 Section and is a party to such hearing or the Board, may
30 move for and obtain the entry of an order in the circuit
31 court of the county in which the majority of the public
32 employees sought to be represented by such person reside,
33 such order extending the date upon which the election
34 shall be held. Such order shall be issued by the circuit
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1 court only upon a judicial finding that there has been a
2 sufficient showing that there is good cause to extend the
3 election date beyond such period and shall require the
4 Board to hold the election as soon as is feasible given
5 the totality of the circumstances. Such 120 day period
6 may be extended one or more times by the agreement of all
7 parties to the hearing to a date certain without the
8 necessity of obtaining a court order. Nothing in this
9 Section prohibits the waiving of hearings by stipulation
10 for the purpose of a consent election in conformity with
11 the rules and regulations of the Board or an election in
12 a unit agreed upon by the parties. Other interested
13 employee organizations may intervene in the proceedings
14 in the manner and within the time period specified by
15 rules and regulations of the Board. Interested parties
16 who are necessary to the proceedings may also intervene
17 in the proceedings in the manner and within the time
18 period specified by the rules and regulations of the
19 Board.
20 (a-5) Whenever a petition or a request for recognition
21 has been filed pursuant to this Section demonstrating that
22 75% or more of the employees of a unit of local government
23 employing 10 or more, but less than 35, employees wish to be
24 represented for the purposes of collective bargaining by a
25 labor organization as exclusive representative, the Board
26 shall investigate the petition or request for recognition,
27 and if it has reason to believe that the petition or request
28 for recognition has been endorsed by 75% of the employees of
29 the unit of local government, shall process the petition or
30 request for recognition pursuant to board rules.
31 (b) The Board shall decide in each case, in order to
32 assure public employees the fullest freedom in exercising the
33 rights guaranteed by this Act, a unit appropriate for the
34 purpose of collective bargaining, based upon but not limited
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1 to such factors as: historical pattern of recognition;
2 community of interest including employee skills and
3 functions; degree of functional integration;
4 interchangeability and contact among employees; fragmentation
5 of employee groups; common supervision, wages, hours and
6 other working conditions of the employees involved; and the
7 desires of the employees. For purposes of this subsection,
8 fragmentation shall not be the sole or predominant factor
9 used by the Board in determining an appropriate bargaining
10 unit. Except with respect to non-State fire fighters and
11 paramedics employed by fire departments and fire protection
12 districts, non-State peace officers and peace officers in the
13 State Department of State Police, a single bargaining unit
14 determined by the Board may not include both supervisors and
15 nonsupervisors, except for bargaining units in existence on
16 the effective date of this Act. With respect to non-State
17 fire fighters and paramedics employed by fire departments and
18 fire protection districts, non-State peace officers and peace
19 officers in the State Department of State Police, a single
20 bargaining unit determined by the Board may not include both
21 supervisors and nonsupervisors, except for bargaining units
22 in existence on the effective date of this amendatory Act of
23 1985.
24 In cases involving an historical pattern of recognition,
25 and in cases where the employer has recognized the union as
26 the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for a specified
27 existing unit, the Board shall find the employees in the unit
28 then represented by the union pursuant to the recognition to
29 be the appropriate unit.
30 Notwithstanding the above factors, where the majority of
31 public employees of a craft so decide, the Board shall
32 designate such craft as a unit appropriate for the purposes
33 of collective bargaining.
34 The Board shall not decide that any unit is appropriate
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1 if such unit includes both professional and nonprofessional
2 employees, unless a majority of each group votes for
3 inclusion in such unit.
4 (c) Nothing in this Act shall interfere with or negate
5 the current representation rights or patterns and practices
6 of labor organizations which have historically represented
7 public employees for the purpose of collective bargaining,
8 including but not limited to the negotiations of wages, hours
9 and working conditions, discussions of employees' grievances,
10 resolution of jurisdictional disputes, or the establishment
11 and maintenance of prevailing wage rates, unless a majority
12 of employees so represented express a contrary desire
13 pursuant to the procedures set forth in this Act.
14 (d) In instances where the employer does not voluntarily
15 recognize a labor organization as the exclusive bargaining
16 representative for a unit of employees, the Board shall
17 determine the majority representative of the public employees
18 in an appropriate collective bargaining unit by conducting a
19 secret ballot election. Within 7 days after the Board issues
20 its bargaining unit determination and direction of election
21 or the execution of a stipulation for the purpose of a
22 consent election, the public employer shall submit to the
23 labor organization the complete names and addresses of those
24 employees who are determined by the Board to be eligible to
25 participate in the election. When the Board has determined
26 that a labor organization has been fairly and freely chosen
27 by a majority of employees in an appropriate unit, it shall
28 certify such organization as the exclusive representative.
29 If the Board determines that a majority of employees in an
30 appropriate unit has fairly and freely chosen not to be
31 represented by a labor organization, it shall so certify. The
32 Board may also revoke the certification of the public
33 employee organizations as exclusive bargaining
34 representatives which have been found by a secret ballot
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1 election to be no longer the majority representative.
2 (e) The Board shall not conduct an election in any
3 bargaining unit or any subdivision thereof within which a
4 valid election has been held in the preceding 12-month
5 period. The Board shall determine who is eligible to vote in
6 an election and shall establish rules governing the conduct
7 of the election or conduct affecting the results of the
8 election. The Board shall include on a ballot in a
9 representation election a choice of "no representation". A
10 labor organization currently representing the bargaining unit
11 of employees shall be placed on the ballot in any
12 representation election. In any election where none of the
13 choices on the ballot receives a majority, a runoff election
14 shall be conducted between the 2 choices receiving the
15 largest number of valid votes cast in the election. A labor
16 organization which receives a majority of the votes cast in
17 an election shall be certified by the Board as exclusive
18 representative of all public employees in the unit.
19 (f) Nothing in this or any other Act prohibits
20 recognition of a labor organization as the exclusive
21 representative by a public employer by mutual consent of the
22 employer and the labor organization, provided that the labor
23 organization represents a majority of the public employees in
24 an appropriate unit. Any employee organization which is
25 designated or selected by the majority of public employees,
26 in a unit of the public employer having no other recognized
27 or certified representative, as their representative for
28 purposes of collective bargaining may request recognition by
29 the public employer in writing. The public employer shall
30 post such request for a period of at least 20 days following
31 its receipt thereof on bulletin boards or other places used
32 or reserved for employee notices.
33 (g) Within the 20-day period any other interested
34 employee organization may petition the Board in the manner
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1 specified by rules and regulations of the Board, provided
2 that such interested employee organization has been
3 designated by at least 10% of the employees in an appropriate
4 bargaining unit which includes all or some of the employees
5 in the unit recognized by the employer. In such event, the
6 Board shall proceed with the petition in the same manner as
7 provided by paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of this Section.
8 (h) No election shall be directed by the Board in any
9 bargaining unit where there is in force a valid collective
10 bargaining agreement. The Board, however, may process an
11 election petition filed between 90 and 60 days prior to the
12 expiration of the date of an agreement, and may further
13 refine, by rule or decision, the implementation of this
14 provision. No collective bargaining agreement bars an
15 election upon the petition of persons not parties thereto
16 where more than 3 years have elapsed since the effective date
17 of the agreement.
18 (i) An order of the Board dismissing a representation
19 petition, determining and certifying that a labor
20 organization has been fairly and freely chosen by a majority
21 of employees in an appropriate bargaining unit, determining
22 and certifying that a labor organization has not been fairly
23 and freely chosen by a majority of employees in the
24 bargaining unit or certifying a labor organization as the
25 exclusive representative of employees in an appropriate
26 bargaining unit because of a determination by the Board that
27 the labor organization is the historical bargaining
28 representative of employees in the bargaining unit, is a
29 final order. Any person aggrieved by any such order issued
30 on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1987
31 may apply for and obtain judicial review in accordance with
32 provisions of the Administrative Review Law, as now or
33 hereafter amended, except that such review shall be afforded
34 directly in the Appellate Court for the district in which the
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1 aggrieved party resides or transacts business. Any direct
2 appeal to the Appellate Court shall be filed within 35 days
3 from the date that a copy of the decision sought to be
4 reviewed was served upon the party affected by the decision.
5 (Source: P.A. 87-736; 88-1.)
6 (5 ILCS 315/20) (from Ch. 48, par. 1620)
7 Sec. 20. Prohibitions.
8 (a) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to require an
9 individual employee to render labor or service without his
10 consent, nor shall anything in this Act be construed to make
11 the quitting of his labor by an individual employee an
12 illegal act; nor shall any court issue any process to compel
13 the performance by an individual employee of such labor or
14 service, without his consent; nor shall the quitting of labor
15 by an employee or employees in good faith because of
16 abnormally dangerous conditions for work at the place of
17 employment of such employee be deemed a strike under this
18 Act.
19 (b) This Act shall not be applicable to units of local
20 government employing less than 35 employees, except (i) with
21 respect to bargaining units in existence on the effective
22 date of this Act and fire protection districts required by
23 the Fire Protection District Act to appoint a Board of Fire
24 Commissioners and (ii) as provided by subsection (a-5) of
25 Section 9.
26 (Source: P.A. 87-736.)
27 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July
28 1, 1999.