Public Act 93-0444

HB3396 Enrolled                      LRB093 07665 WGH 07845 b

    AN ACT concerning labor relations.

    Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:

    Section  5.  The  Illinois  Public Labor Relations Act is
amended by changing Section 9 as follows:

    (5 ILCS 315/9) (from Ch. 48, par. 1609)
    Sec. 9.  Elections; recognition.
    (a)  Whenever in accordance with such regulations as  may
be prescribed by the Board a petition has been filed:
         (1)  by   a  public  employee  or  group  of  public
    employees or  any  labor  organization  acting  in  their
    behalf  demonstrating that 30% of the public employees in
    an appropriate unit (A) wish to be  represented  for  the
    purposes   of   collective    bargaining   by   a   labor
    organization   as   exclusive   representative,   or  (B)
    asserting that the  labor  organization  which  has  been
    certified  or  is  currently  recognized  by  the  public
    employer  as  bargaining  representative is no longer the
    representative of the majority of public employees in the
    unit; or
         (2)  by a public employer alleging that one or  more
    labor  organizations  have  presented  to it a claim that
    they be recognized as the representative of a majority of
    the public employees in an appropriate unit,
the Board shall investigate such  petition,  and  if  it  has
reasonable cause to believe that a question of representation
exists,  shall  provide  for  an appropriate hearing upon due
notice. Such hearing shall be held  at  the  offices  of  the
Board  or such other location as the Board deems appropriate.
If it finds upon the record of the hearing that a question of
representation  exists,  it  shall  direct  an  election   in
accordance   with  subsection  (d)  of  this  Section,  which
election shall be held not later than 120 days after the date
the petition was filed regardless of  whether  that  petition
was  filed  before  or  after  the  effective  date  of  this
amendatory  Act  of  1987;  provided,  however, the Board may
extend the time for holding an election by an  additional  60
days  if,  upon  motion  by a person who has filed a petition
under this Section or is the  subject  of  a  petition  filed
under  this  Section  and is a party to such hearing, or upon
the Board's own motion, the Board finds that good  cause  has
been shown for extending the election date; provided further,
that nothing in this Section shall prohibit the Board, in its
discretion,  from  extending the time for holding an election
for so long as may  be  necessary  under  the  circumstances,
where  the purpose for such extension is to permit resolution
by the Board of an unfair labor practice charge filed by  one
of  the  parties to a representational proceeding against the
other  based  upon  conduct  which  may  either  affect   the
existence  of  a question concerning representation or have a
tendency to interfere with a fair and  free  election,  where
the  party  filing  the  charge  has  not  filed a request to
proceed with the election; and provided further that prior to
the expiration of the total  time  allotted  for  holding  an
election,  a  person  who  has  filed  a  petition under this
Section or is the subject of  a  petition  filed  under  this
Section and is a party to such hearing or the Board, may move
for  and obtain the entry of an order in the circuit court of
the county in which the  majority  of  the  public  employees
sought  to  be  represented by such person reside, such order
extending the date upon which the  election  shall  be  held.
Such  order  shall be issued by the circuit court only upon a
judicial finding that there has  been  a  sufficient  showing
that  there  is good cause to extend the election date beyond
such period and shall require the Board to hold the  election
as   soon   as   is   feasible  given  the  totality  of  the
circumstances. Such 120 day period may  be  extended  one  or
more  times by the agreement of all parties to the hearing to
a date certain without the necessity  of  obtaining  a  court
order.  Nothing  in  this  Section  prohibits  the waiving of
hearings by stipulation for the purpose of a consent election
in conformity with the rules and regulations of the Board  or
an  election  in  a  unit  agreed  upon by the parties. Other
interested  employee  organizations  may  intervene  in   the
proceedings   in  the  manner  and  within  the  time  period
specified by rules and regulations of the Board.   Interested
parties  who  are  necessary  to  the  proceedings  may  also
intervene  in  the  proceedings  in the manner and within the
time period specified by the rules  and  regulations  of  the
Board.
    (a-5)  The    Board    shall   designate   an   exclusive
representative for purposes of collective bargaining when the
representative demonstrates a showing of majority interest by
employees in the unit.  If  the  parties  to  a  dispute  are
without  agreement  on  the means to ascertain the choice, if
any, of employee organization as  their  representative,  the
Board  shall  ascertain  the  employees'  choice  of employee
organization, on the basis of  dues  deduction  authorization
and  other  evidence,  or,  if  necessary,  by  conducting an
election. If either party provides to the Board,  before  the
designation   of   a  representative,  clear  and  convincing
evidence that the dues deduction  authorizations,  and  other
evidence  upon  which  the  Board  would  otherwise  rely  to
ascertain   the  employees'  choice  of  representative,  are
fraudulent or were obtained through coercion, the Board shall
promptly thereafter conduct an election. The Board shall also
investigate and consider a party's allegations that the  dues
deduction  authorizations  and  other  evidence  submitted in
support  of  a  designation  of  representative  without   an
election  were  subsequently  changed, altered, withdrawn, or
withheld as a result of  employer  fraud,  coercion,  or  any
other  unfair  labor  practice  by the employer. If the Board
determines  that  a  labor  organization  would  have  had  a
majority interest but for an employer's fraud,  coercion,  or
unfair   labor   practice,   it  shall  designate  the  labor
organization   as   an   exclusive   representative   without
conducting an election.
    (b)  The Board shall decide in each  case,  in  order  to
assure public employees the fullest freedom in exercising the
rights  guaranteed  by  this  Act, a unit appropriate for the
purpose of collective bargaining, based upon but not  limited
to  such  factors  as:  historical  pattern  of  recognition;
community   of   interest   including   employee  skills  and
functions;     degree     of     functional      integration;
interchangeability and contact among employees; fragmentation
of  employee  groups;  common  supervision,  wages, hours and
other working conditions of the employees involved;  and  the
desires  of  the employees.  For purposes of this subsection,
fragmentation shall not be the  sole  or  predominant  factor
used  by  the  Board in determining an appropriate bargaining
unit.  Except with respect to  non-State  fire  fighters  and
paramedics  employed  by fire departments and fire protection
districts, non-State peace officers and peace officers in the
State Department of State Police, a  single  bargaining  unit
determined  by the Board may not include both supervisors and
nonsupervisors, except for bargaining units in  existence  on
the  effective  date  of  this Act. With respect to non-State
fire fighters and paramedics employed by fire departments and
fire protection districts, non-State peace officers and peace
officers in the State Department of State  Police,  a  single
bargaining  unit determined by the Board may not include both
supervisors and nonsupervisors, except for  bargaining  units
in  existence on the effective date of this amendatory Act of
1985.
    In cases involving an historical pattern of  recognition,
and  in  cases where the employer has recognized the union as
the sole and  exclusive  bargaining  agent  for  a  specified
existing unit, the Board shall find the employees in the unit
then  represented by the union pursuant to the recognition to
be the appropriate unit.
    Notwithstanding the above factors, where the majority  of
public  employees  of  a  craft  so  decide,  the Board shall
designate such craft as a unit appropriate for  the  purposes
of collective bargaining.
    The  Board  shall not decide that any unit is appropriate
if such unit includes both professional  and  nonprofessional
employees,   unless  a  majority  of  each  group  votes  for
inclusion in such unit.
    (c)  Nothing in this Act shall interfere with  or  negate
the  current  representation rights or patterns and practices
of labor organizations which  have  historically  represented
public  employees  for  the purpose of collective bargaining,
including but not limited to the negotiations of wages, hours
and working conditions, discussions of employees' grievances,
resolution of jurisdictional disputes, or  the  establishment
and  maintenance  of prevailing wage rates, unless a majority
of  employees  so  represented  express  a  contrary   desire
pursuant to the procedures set forth in this Act.
    (d)  In instances where the employer does not voluntarily
recognize  a  labor  organization as the exclusive bargaining
representative for a  unit  of  employees,  the  Board  shall
determine the majority representative of the public employees
in  an appropriate collective bargaining unit by conducting a
secret ballot  election,  except  as  otherwise  provided  in
subsection  (a-5).  Within  7 days after the Board issues its
bargaining unit determination and direction  of  election  or
the  execution  of a stipulation for the purpose of a consent
election, the public  employer  shall  submit  to  the  labor
organization  the  complete  names  and  addresses  of  those
employees  who  are determined by the Board to be eligible to
participate in the election. When the  Board  has  determined
that  a  labor organization has been fairly and freely chosen
by a majority of employees in an appropriate unit,  it  shall
certify  such  organization  as the exclusive representative.
If the Board determines that a majority of  employees  in  an
appropriate  unit  has  fairly  and  freely  chosen not to be
represented by a labor organization, it shall so certify. The
Board  may  also  revoke  the  certification  of  the  public
employee    organizations     as     exclusive     bargaining
representatives  which  have  been  found  by a secret ballot
election to be no longer the majority representative.
    (e)  The Board shall  not  conduct  an  election  in  any
bargaining  unit  or  any  subdivision thereof within which a
valid election  has  been  held  in  the  preceding  12-month
period.  The Board shall determine who is eligible to vote in
an  election  and shall establish rules governing the conduct
of the election or  conduct  affecting  the  results  of  the
election.   The   Board  shall  include  on  a  ballot  in  a
representation election a choice of  "no  representation".  A
labor organization currently representing the bargaining unit
of   employees   shall   be  placed  on  the  ballot  in  any
representation election. In any election where  none  of  the
choices  on the ballot receives a majority, a runoff election
shall be  conducted  between  the  2  choices  receiving  the
largest  number of valid votes cast in the election.  A labor
organization which receives a majority of the votes  cast  in
an  election  shall  be  certified  by the Board as exclusive
representative of all public employees in the unit.
    (f)  Nothing  in  this  or  any   other   Act   prohibits
recognition  of  A  labor organization shall be designated as
the exclusive representative by a public employer  by  mutual
consent  of the employer and the labor organization, provided
that the labor organization  represents  a  majority  of  the
public   employees  in  an  appropriate  unit.  Any  employee
organization which is designated or selected by the  majority
of  public employees, in a unit of the public employer having
no other recognized or  certified  representative,  as  their
representative  for  purposes  of  collective  bargaining may
request recognition by the public employer in  writing.   The
public  employer  shall  post such request for a period of at
least 20 days  following  its  receipt  thereof  on  bulletin
boards or other places used or reserved for employee notices.
    (g)  Within   the  20-day  period  any  other  interested
employee organization may petition the Board  in  the  manner
specified  by  rules  and  regulations of the Board, provided
that  such  interested   employee   organization   has   been
designated by at least 10% of the employees in an appropriate
bargaining  unit  which includes all or some of the employees
in the unit recognized by the employer.  In such  event,  the
Board  shall  proceed with the petition in the same manner as
provided by paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of this Section.
    (h)  No election shall be directed by the  Board  in  any
bargaining  unit  where  there is in force a valid collective
bargaining agreement.  The Board,  however,  may  process  an
election  petition  filed between 90 and 60 days prior to the
expiration of the date  of  an  agreement,  and  may  further
refine,  by  rule  or  decision,  the  implementation of this
provision.  No  collective  bargaining  agreement   bars   an
election  upon  the  petition  of persons not parties thereto
where more than 3 years have elapsed since the effective date
of the agreement.
    (i)  An order of the Board  dismissing  a  representation
petition,   determining   and   certifying   that   a   labor
organization  has been fairly and freely chosen by a majority
of employees in an appropriate bargaining  unit,  determining
and  certifying that a labor organization has not been fairly
and  freely  chosen  by  a  majority  of  employees  in   the
bargaining  unit  or  certifying  a labor organization as the
exclusive  representative  of  employees  in  an  appropriate
bargaining unit because of a determination by the Board  that
the   labor   organization   is   the  historical  bargaining
representative of employees in  the  bargaining  unit,  is  a
final  order.   Any person aggrieved by any such order issued
on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1987
may apply for and obtain judicial review in  accordance  with
provisions  of  the  Administrative  Review  Law,  as  now or
hereafter amended, except that such review shall be  afforded
directly in the Appellate Court for the district in which the
aggrieved  party  resides  or  transacts business. Any direct
appeal to the Appellate Court shall be filed within  35  days
from  the  date  that  a  copy  of  the decision sought to be
reviewed was served upon the party affected by the decision.
(Source: P.A. 87-736; 88-1.)

    Section 10.  The Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act
is amended by changing Section 7 as follows:

    (115 ILCS 5/7) (from Ch. 48, par. 1707)
    Sec.   7.    Recognition    of    exclusive    bargaining
representatives  - unit determination. The Board is empowered
to administer the recognition of  bargaining  representatives
of  employees of public school districts, including employees
of districts which have entered  into  joint  agreements,  or
employees of public community college districts, or any State
college  or  university,  and  any  State  agency whose major
function is providing educational  services,  making  certain
that   each   bargaining  unit  contains  employees  with  an
identifiable community of interest and that no unit  includes
both  professional  employees  and  nonprofessional employees
unless a  majority  of  employees  in  each  group  vote  for
inclusion in the unit.
    (a)  In  determining  the  appropriateness of a unit, the
Board shall decide in each case, in order to ensure employees
the fullest freedom in exercising the  rights  guaranteed  by
this  Act, the unit appropriate for the purpose of collective
bargaining, based upon but not limited  to  such  factors  as
historical  pattern  of  recognition,  community of interest,
including employee skills and functions, degree of functional
integration, interchangeability and contact among  employees,
common supervision, wages, hours and other working conditions
of  the employees involved, and the desires of the employees.
Nothing  in  this  Act,  except  as  herein  provided,  shall
interfere with or negate the current representation rights or
patterns and practices of employee organizations  which  have
historically   represented  employees  for  the  purposes  of
collective bargaining,  including  but  not  limited  to  the
negotiations   of   wages,   hours  and  working  conditions,
resolutions  of  employees'  grievances,  or  resolution   of
jurisdictional disputes, or the establishment and maintenance
of  prevailing wage rates, unless a majority of the employees
so  represented  expresses  a  contrary  desire   under   the
procedures  set  forth  in  this Act.  This Section, however,
does not prohibit multi-unit bargaining.  Notwithstanding the
above factors, where the majority of public  employees  of  a
craft  so  decide,  the Board shall designate such craft as a
unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining.
    The sole appropriate bargaining unit for academic faculty
at the University  of  Illinois  shall  be  a  unit  that  is
comprised  of  non-supervisory academic faculty employed more
than half-time and that includes all  tenured,  tenure-track,
and nontenure-track faculty employed by the board of trustees
of that University in all of its undergraduate, graduate, and
professional  schools  and  degree  and  non-degree programs,
regardless of current or historical representation rights  or
patterns  or  the  application  of  any  other  factors.  Any
decision, rule, or regulation, promulgated by the  Board   to
the contrary shall be null and void.
    (b)  An   educational   employer  shall  may  voluntarily
recognize a  labor  organization  for  collective  bargaining
purposes if that organization appears to represent a majority
of  employees in the unit.  The employer shall post notice of
its intent to so recognize for a period of at least 20 school
days on bulletin boards or other places used or reserved  for
employee  notices.  Thereafter, the employer, if satisfied as
to the majority status of the  employee  organization,  shall
send  written  notification  of such recognition to the Board
for certification. Any dispute regarding the majority  status
of  a labor organization shall be resolved by the Board which
shall make the determination of majority status.
    Within the 20  day  notice  period,  however,  any  other
interested  employee  organization  may petition the Board to
seek recognition as the exclusive representative of the  unit
in  the  manner specified by rules and regulations prescribed
by the Board, if such interested  employee  organization  has
been  designated  by  at  least  15%  of  the employees in an
appropriate bargaining unit which includes all or some of the
employees in the  unit  intended  to  be  recognized  by  the
employer.   In  such  event, the Board shall proceed with the
petition in the same manner as provided in paragraph  (c)  of
this Section.
    (c)  A  labor  organization  may also gain recognition as
the exclusive representative by an election of the  employees
in  the  unit.  Petitions requesting an election may be filed
with the Board:
         (1)  by an employee or group  of  employees  or  any
    labor  organizations  acting on their behalf alleging and
    presenting evidence that 30% or more of the employees  in
    a  bargaining  unit wish to be represented for collective
    bargaining or that the labor organization which has  been
    acting  as  the exclusive bargaining representative is no
    longer representative of a majority of the  employees  in
    the unit; or
         (2)  by  an employer alleging that one or more labor
    organizations have presented a claim to be recognized  as
    an  exclusive  bargaining representative of a majority of
    the employees in an appropriate unit and that  it  doubts
    the  majority  status of any of the organizations or that
    it doubts the majority status of an exclusive  bargaining
    representative.
    The  Board  shall  investigate the petition and if it has
reasonable cause to suspect that a question of representation
exists, it shall give notice and conduct a  hearing.   If  it
finds  upon  the  record  of  the  hearing that a question of
representation exists, it shall  direct  an  election,  which
shall  be  held  no  later  than  90  days after the date the
petition  was  filed.   Nothing  prohibits  the  waiving   of
hearings by the parties and the conduct of consent elections.
    (c-5)  The    Board    shall   designate   an   exclusive
representative for purposes of collective bargaining when the
representative demonstrates a showing of majority interest by
employees in the unit.  If  the  parties  to  a  dispute  are
without  agreement  on  the means to ascertain the choice, if
any, of employee organization as  their  representative,  the
Board  shall  ascertain  the  employees'  choice  of employee
organization, on the basis of  dues  deduction  authorization
and  other  evidence,  or,  if  necessary,  by  conducting an
election. If either party provides to the Board,  before  the
designation   of   a  representative,  clear  and  convincing
evidence that the dues deduction  authorizations,  and  other
evidence  upon  which  the  Board  would  otherwise  rely  to
ascertain   the  employees'  choice  of  representative,  are
fraudulent or were obtained through coercion, the Board shall
promptly thereafter conduct an election. The Board shall also
investigate and consider a party's allegations that the  dues
deduction  authorizations  and  other  evidence  submitted in
support  of  a  designation  of  representative  without   an
election  were  subsequently  changed, altered, withdrawn, or
withheld as a result of  employer  fraud,  coercion,  or  any
other  unfair  labor  practice  by the employer. If the Board
determines  that  a  labor  organization  would  have  had  a
majority interest but for an employer's fraud,  coercion,  or
unfair   labor   practice,   it  shall  designate  the  labor
organization   as   an   exclusive   representative   without
conducting an election.
    (d)  An order of the Board  dismissing  a  representation
petition,   determining   and   certifying   that   a   labor
organization  has been fairly and freely chosen by a majority
of employees in an appropriate bargaining  unit,  determining
and  certifying that a labor organization has not been fairly
and  freely  chosen  by  a  majority  of  employees  in   the
bargaining  unit  or  certifying  a labor organization as the
exclusive  representative  of  employees  in  an  appropriate
bargaining unit because of a determination by the Board  that
the   labor   organization   is   the  historical  bargaining
representative of employees in  the  bargaining  unit,  is  a
final  order.   Any person aggrieved by any such order issued
on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1987
may apply for and obtain judicial review in  accordance  with
provisions  of  the  Administrative  Review  Law,  as  now or
hereafter amended, except that such review shall be  afforded
directly  in  the  Appellate  Court of a judicial district in
which the Board maintains an office. Any direct appeal to the
Appellate Court shall be filed within 35 days from  the  date
that  a copy of the decision sought to be reviewed was served
upon the party affected by the decision.
    No election may  be  conducted  in  any  bargaining  unit
during the term of a collective bargaining agreement covering
such unit or subdivision thereof, except the Board may direct
an election after the filing of a petition between January 15
and  March  1  of  the  final year of a collective bargaining
agreement.  Nothing in this Section prohibits the negotiation
of a collective bargaining agreement covering  a  period  not
exceeding 3 years.  A collective bargaining agreement of less
than  3 years may be extended up to 3 years by the parties if
the extension is agreed to in writing before the filing of  a
petition under this Section.  In such case, the final year of
the  extension is the final year of the collective bargaining
agreement.  No election may  be  conducted  in  a  bargaining
unit,  or  subdivision thereof, in which a valid election has
been held within the preceding 12 month period.
(Source: P.A. 88-1; 89-4, eff. 7-1-95 (eff. date changed from
1-1-96 by P.A. 89-24).)

    Section 99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect  upon
becoming law.

Effective Date: 08/05/03