Full Text of HB2521 102nd General Assembly
HB2521ham001 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Rep. Edgar Gonzalez, Jr. Filed: 4/16/2021
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| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 2521
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 2521 on page 19, | 3 | | immediately below line 2, by inserting the following:
| 4 | | "Section 10. The Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act | 5 | | is amended by changing Sections 7, 8, and 14 as follows:
| 6 | | (115 ILCS 5/7) (from Ch. 48, par. 1707)
| 7 | | Sec. 7. Recognition of exclusive bargaining | 8 | | representatives - unit
determination. The Board is empowered | 9 | | to administer the
recognition of bargaining representatives of | 10 | | employees of public school
districts, including employees of | 11 | | districts which have entered into joint
agreements, or | 12 | | employees of public community college districts, or any
State | 13 | | college or university, and any State agency whose major | 14 | | function is
providing educational services, making certain | 15 | | that each bargaining unit
contains employees with an | 16 | | identifiable community of interest and that no unit
includes |
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| 1 | | both professional employees and nonprofessional employees | 2 | | unless a
majority of employees in each group vote for | 3 | | inclusion in the unit.
| 4 | | (a) In determining the appropriateness of a unit, the | 5 | | Board
shall decide in each case, in order to ensure employees | 6 | | the fullest freedom
in exercising the rights guaranteed by | 7 | | this Act, the unit appropriate for
the purpose of collective | 8 | | bargaining, based upon but not limited to such
factors as | 9 | | historical pattern of recognition, community of interest, | 10 | | including
employee skills and functions, degree of functional | 11 | | integration,
interchangeability and contact among employees, | 12 | | common supervision, wages,
hours and other working conditions | 13 | | of the employees involved, and the desires
of the employees. | 14 | | Nothing in this Act, except as herein provided, shall
| 15 | | interfere with or negate the
current representation rights or | 16 | | patterns and practices of employee
organizations which have | 17 | | historically represented employees for the purposes of
| 18 | | collective bargaining, including but not limited to the | 19 | | negotiations of wages,
hours and working conditions, | 20 | | resolutions of employees' grievances, or
resolution of | 21 | | jurisdictional disputes, or the establishment and maintenance | 22 | | of
prevailing wage rates, unless a majority of the employees | 23 | | so represented
expresses a contrary desire under the | 24 | | procedures set forth in this Act. This
Section, however, does | 25 | | not prohibit multi-unit bargaining. Notwithstanding the
above | 26 | | factors, where the majority of public employees of a craft so |
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| 1 | | decide, the
Board shall designate such craft as a unit | 2 | | appropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining.
| 3 | | The sole appropriate bargaining unit for tenured and | 4 | | tenure-track
academic faculty at
each campus
of
the
University | 5 | | of Illinois shall be a unit that is comprised of
| 6 | | non-supervisory academic faculty employed more than half-time | 7 | | and
that includes all tenured and tenure-track
faculty
of that | 8 | | University campus employed by the board of trustees in all of | 9 | | the campus's undergraduate, graduate, and
professional
schools | 10 | | and degree and non-degree programs
(with the exception of the | 11 | | college of medicine, the college of pharmacy,
the college of | 12 | | dentistry, the college of law, and the college of veterinary
| 13 | | medicine, each of which shall have its own separate unit), | 14 | | regardless of
current
or
historical representation rights or | 15 | | patterns or the application of any
other factors. Any | 16 | | decision, rule, or regulation promulgated by the
Board to the | 17 | | contrary shall be null and void.
| 18 | | (b) An educational employer shall voluntarily recognize a | 19 | | labor organization
for collective bargaining purposes if that | 20 | | organization appears to represent
a majority of employees in | 21 | | the unit. The employer shall post notice
of its intent to so | 22 | | recognize for a period of at least 20 school days on
bulletin | 23 | | boards or other places used or reserved for employee notices.
| 24 | | Thereafter, the employer, if satisfied as to the majority | 25 | | status of the
employee organization, shall send written | 26 | | notification of such recognition
to the Board for |
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| 1 | | certification.
Any dispute regarding the majority status of
a | 2 | | labor organization shall be
resolved by the Board which shall | 3 | | make the determination of majority
status.
| 4 | | Within the 20 day notice period, however, any other | 5 | | interested employee
organization may petition the Board to | 6 | | seek recognition as the exclusive
representative of the unit | 7 | | in the manner specified by rules and regulations
prescribed by | 8 | | the Board, if such interested employee organization has been
| 9 | | designated by at least 15% of the employees in an appropriate | 10 | | bargaining unit
which includes all or some of the employees in | 11 | | the unit intended to be
recognized by the employer. In such | 12 | | event, the Board shall proceed with the
petition in the same | 13 | | manner as provided in paragraph (c) of this Section.
| 14 | | (c) A labor organization may also gain recognition as the | 15 | | exclusive
representative by an election of the employees in | 16 | | the unit. Petitions
requesting an election may be filed with | 17 | | the Board:
| 18 | | (1) by an employee or group of employees or any labor | 19 | | organizations acting
on their behalf alleging and | 20 | | presenting evidence that 30% or more of the
employees in a | 21 | | bargaining unit wish to be represented for collective | 22 | | bargaining
or that the labor organization which has been | 23 | | acting as the exclusive
bargaining representative is no | 24 | | longer representative of a majority of the
employees in | 25 | | the unit; or
| 26 | | (2) by an employer alleging that one or more labor |
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| 1 | | organizations have
presented a claim to be recognized as | 2 | | an exclusive bargaining representative
of a majority of | 3 | | the employees in an appropriate unit and that it doubts
| 4 | | the majority status of any of the organizations or that it | 5 | | doubts the majority
status of an exclusive bargaining | 6 | | representative.
| 7 | | The Board shall investigate the petition and if it has | 8 | | reasonable cause to
suspect that a question of representation | 9 | | exists, it shall give notice and
conduct a hearing. If it finds | 10 | | upon the record of the hearing that a question
of | 11 | | representation exists, it shall direct an election, which | 12 | | shall be held no
later than 90 days after the date the petition | 13 | | was filed. The showing of interest in support of a petition | 14 | | filed under paragraph (1) of this subsection (c) may be | 15 | | evidenced by electronic communications, and such writing or | 16 | | communication may be evidenced by the electronic signature of | 17 | | the employee as provided under Section 5-120 of the Electronic | 18 | | Commerce Security Act. The showing of interest shall be valid | 19 | | only if signed within 12 months prior to the filing of the | 20 | | petition. Nothing prohibits
the waiving of hearings by the | 21 | | parties and the conduct of consent elections.
| 22 | | (c-5) The Board shall designate an exclusive | 23 | | representative for purposes
of
collective bargaining when the | 24 | | representative demonstrates a showing of
majority interest by | 25 | | employees in the unit. If the parties to a dispute are
without
| 26 | | agreement on the means to ascertain the choice, if any, of |
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| 1 | | employee
organization as their representative, the Board shall | 2 | | ascertain the employees'
choice of
employee organization, on | 3 | | the basis of dues deduction authorization or other
evidence, | 4 | | or, if necessary, by conducting an election. The showing of | 5 | | interest in support of a petition filed under this subsection | 6 | | (c-5) may be evidenced by electronic communications, and such | 7 | | writing or communication may be evidenced by the electronic
| 8 | | signature of the employee as provided under Section 5-120 of | 9 | | the Electronic Commerce Security Act. The showing of interest | 10 | | shall be valid only if signed within 12 months prior to the | 11 | | filing of the petition. All evidence submitted by an employee | 12 | | organization to the Board to ascertain an employee's choice of | 13 | | an employee organization is confidential and shall not be | 14 | | submitted to the employer for review. The Board shall | 15 | | ascertain the employee's choice of employee organization | 16 | | within 120 days after the filing of the majority interest | 17 | | petition; however, the Board may extend time by an additional | 18 | | 60 days, upon its own motion or upon the motion of a party to | 19 | | the proceeding. If either party provides
to the Board, before | 20 | | the designation of a representative, clear and convincing
| 21 | | evidence that the dues deduction authorizations, and other | 22 | | evidence upon which
the Board would otherwise rely to | 23 | | ascertain the employees' choice of
representative, are | 24 | | fraudulent or were obtained through coercion, the Board
shall | 25 | | promptly thereafter conduct an election. The Board shall also | 26 | | investigate
and consider a party's allegations that the dues |
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| 1 | | deduction authorizations and
other evidence submitted in | 2 | | support of a designation of representative without
an election | 3 | | were subsequently changed, altered, withdrawn, or withheld as | 4 | | a
result of employer fraud, coercion, or any other unfair | 5 | | labor practice by the
employer. If the Board determines that a | 6 | | labor organization would have had a
majority interest but for | 7 | | an employer's fraud, coercion, or unfair labor
practice, it | 8 | | shall designate the labor organization as an exclusive
| 9 | | representative without conducting an election. If a hearing is | 10 | | necessary to resolve any issues of representation under this | 11 | | Section, the Board shall conclude its hearing process and | 12 | | issue a certification of the entire appropriate unit not later | 13 | | than 120 days after the date the petition was filed. The | 14 | | 120-day period may be extended one or more times by the | 15 | | agreement of all parties to a hearing to a date certain.
| 16 | | (c-6) A labor organization or an employer may file a unit | 17 | | clarification petition seeking to clarify an existing | 18 | | bargaining unit. The Board shall conclude its investigation, | 19 | | including any hearing process deemed necessary, and issue a | 20 | | certification of clarified unit or dismiss the petition not | 21 | | later than 120 days after the date the petition was filed. The | 22 | | 120-day period may be extended one or more times by the | 23 | | agreement of all parties to a hearing to a date certain. | 24 | | (d) An order of the Board dismissing a representation | 25 | | petition, determining
and certifying that a labor organization | 26 | | has been fairly and freely chosen by a
majority of employees in |
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| 1 | | an appropriate bargaining unit, determining and
certifying | 2 | | that a labor organization has not been fairly and freely | 3 | | chosen by a
majority of employees in the bargaining unit or | 4 | | certifying a labor organization
as the exclusive | 5 | | representative of employees in an appropriate bargaining unit
| 6 | | because of a determination by the Board that the labor | 7 | | organization is the
historical bargaining representative of | 8 | | employees in the bargaining unit,
is a final order. Any person | 9 | | aggrieved by any such order issued on or after
the effective | 10 | | date of this amendatory Act of 1987 may apply for and obtain
| 11 | | judicial review in accordance with provisions of the | 12 | | Administrative Review Law,
as now or hereafter amended, except | 13 | | that such review shall be afforded directly
in the Appellate | 14 | | Court of a judicial district in which the Board maintains an
| 15 | | office. Any direct appeal to the Appellate Court shall be | 16 | | filed within 35 days
from the date that a copy of the decision | 17 | | sought to be reviewed was served upon
the party affected by the | 18 | | decision.
| 19 | | No election may be conducted in any bargaining unit during | 20 | | the term of
a collective bargaining agreement covering such | 21 | | unit or subdivision thereof,
except the Board may direct an | 22 | | election after the filing
of a petition between January 15 and | 23 | | March 1 of the final year of a collective
bargaining | 24 | | agreement. Nothing in this Section prohibits the negotiation
| 25 | | of a collective bargaining agreement covering a period not | 26 | | exceeding 3 years.
A collective bargaining agreement of less |
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| 1 | | than 3 years may be extended up
to 3 years by the parties if | 2 | | the extension is agreed to in writing before
the filing of a | 3 | | petition under this Section. In such case, the final year
of | 4 | | the extension is the final year of the collective bargaining | 5 | | agreement.
No election may be conducted in a bargaining unit, | 6 | | or subdivision thereof,
in which a valid election has been | 7 | | held within the preceding 12 month period.
| 8 | | (Source: P.A. 95-331, eff. 8-21-07; 96-813, eff. 10-30-09.)
| 9 | | (115 ILCS 5/8) (from Ch. 48, par. 1708)
| 10 | | Sec. 8. Election - certification. Elections shall be by | 11 | | secret ballot,
and conducted in accordance with rules and | 12 | | regulations established by the
Illinois Educational Labor | 13 | | Relations Board. A secret ballot election may be conducted | 14 | | electronically, using an electronic voting system, in addition | 15 | | to paper ballot voting systems. An incumbent exclusive | 16 | | bargaining
representative shall automatically be placed on any | 17 | | ballot with the
petitioner's
labor organization. An | 18 | | intervening labor organization may be placed on the
ballot
| 19 | | when supported by 15% or more of the employees in the | 20 | | bargaining unit.
The Board shall give at least 30 days notice | 21 | | of the time
and place of the election to the parties and, upon | 22 | | request, shall provide
the parties with a list of names and | 23 | | addresses of persons eligible to vote
in the election at least | 24 | | 15 days before the election. The ballot must include,
as one of | 25 | | the alternatives, the choice of "no representative". No mail
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| 1 | | ballots are permitted except where a specific individual would | 2 | | otherwise
be unable to cast a ballot.
| 3 | | The labor organization receiving a majority of the ballots | 4 | | cast shall be
certified by the Board as the exclusive | 5 | | bargaining representative.
If the choice of "no | 6 | | representative" receives a majority, the employer shall
not | 7 | | recognize any exclusive bargaining representative for at least | 8 | | 12 months.
If none of the choices on the ballot receives a | 9 | | majority, a run-off shall
be conducted between the 2 choices | 10 | | receiving the largest number of valid
votes cast in the | 11 | | election. The Board shall certify the
results of the election | 12 | | within 6 working days after the final tally
of votes
unless a | 13 | | charge is filed by a party alleging that improper conduct | 14 | | occurred
which
affected the outcome of the election. The Board | 15 | | shall
promptly investigate the allegations, and if it finds | 16 | | probable cause that
improper conduct occurred and could have | 17 | | affected the outcome of the election,
it shall set a hearing on | 18 | | the matter on a date falling within 2 weeks of
when it received | 19 | | the charge. If it determines, after hearing, that the outcome
| 20 | | of the election was affected by improper conduct, it shall | 21 | | order a new election
and shall order corrective action which | 22 | | it considers necessary to insure the
fairness of the new | 23 | | election. If it determines upon investigation or after
hearing | 24 | | that the alleged improper conduct did not take place or that it | 25 | | did not
affect the results of the election, it shall | 26 | | immediately certify the election
results.
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| 1 | | Any labor organization that is the exclusive bargaining | 2 | | representative
in an appropriate unit on
the effective date of | 3 | | this Act shall continue as such until a new one is
selected | 4 | | under this Act.
| 5 | | (Source: P.A. 92-206, eff. 1-1-02.)
| 6 | | (115 ILCS 5/14) (from Ch. 48, par. 1714)
| 7 | | Sec. 14. Unfair labor practices.
| 8 | | (a) Educational employers, their agents
or representatives | 9 | | are prohibited from:
| 10 | | (1) Interfering, restraining or coercing employees in | 11 | | the exercise of
the rights guaranteed under this Act.
| 12 | | (2) Dominating or interfering with the formation, | 13 | | existence or
administration of any employee organization.
| 14 | | (3) Discriminating in regard to hire or tenure of | 15 | | employment or any term
or condition of employment to | 16 | | encourage or discourage membership in any
employee | 17 | | organization.
| 18 | | (4) Discharging or otherwise discriminating against an | 19 | | employee because
he or she has signed or filed an | 20 | | affidavit, authorization card, petition or
complaint or | 21 | | given any information or testimony under this Act.
| 22 | | (5) Refusing to bargain collectively in good faith | 23 | | with an employee
representative which is the exclusive | 24 | | representative of employees in an
appropriate unit, | 25 | | including , but not limited to , the discussing of |
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| 1 | | grievances
with the exclusive representative; provided, | 2 | | however, that if an alleged
unfair labor practice involves | 3 | | interpretation or application of the terms
of a collective | 4 | | bargaining agreement and said agreement contains a
| 5 | | grievance and arbitration procedure, the Board may defer | 6 | | the resolution of
such dispute to the grievance and | 7 | | arbitration procedure contained in said
agreement.
| 8 | | (6) Refusing to reduce a collective bargaining | 9 | | agreement to writing and
signing such agreement.
| 10 | | (7) Violating any of the rules and regulations | 11 | | promulgated by the Board
regulating the conduct of | 12 | | representation elections.
| 13 | | (8) Refusing to comply with the provisions of a | 14 | | binding arbitration award.
| 15 | | (9) Expending or causing the expenditure of public | 16 | | funds to any
external agent, individual, firm, agency, | 17 | | partnership or association in any
attempt to influence the | 18 | | outcome of representational elections held
pursuant to | 19 | | paragraph (c) of Section 7 of this Act; provided, that | 20 | | nothing
in this subsection shall be construed to limit an | 21 | | employer's right to be
represented on any matter | 22 | | pertaining to unit determinations, unfair labor
practice | 23 | | charges or pre-election conferences in any formal or | 24 | | informal
proceeding before the Board, or to seek or obtain | 25 | | advice from legal counsel.
Nothing in this paragraph shall | 26 | | be construed to prohibit an employer from
expending or |
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| 1 | | causing the expenditure of public funds on, or seeking or
| 2 | | obtaining services or advice from, any organization, group | 3 | | or association
established by, and including educational | 4 | | or public employers, whether or
not covered by this Act, | 5 | | the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act or the
public | 6 | | employment labor relations law of any other state or the | 7 | | federal
government, provided that such services or advice | 8 | | are generally available
to the membership of the | 9 | | organization, group, or association, and are not
offered | 10 | | solely in an attempt to influence the outcome of a | 11 | | particular
representational election.
| 12 | | (10) Interfering with, restraining, coercing, | 13 | | deterring or discouraging educational employees or | 14 | | applicants to be educational employees from: (1) becoming | 15 | | members of an employee organization; (2) authorizing | 16 | | representation by an employee organization; or (3) | 17 | | authorizing dues or fee deductions to an employee | 18 | | organization, nor shall the employer intentionally permit | 19 | | outside third parties to use its email or other | 20 | | communications systems to engage in that conduct. An | 21 | | employer's good faith implementation of a policy to block | 22 | | the use of its email or other communication systems for | 23 | | such purposes shall be a defense to an unfair labor | 24 | | practice. | 25 | | (11) Disclosing to any person or entity information | 26 | | set forth in subsection (d) of Section 3 of this Act that |
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| 1 | | the employer knows or should know will be used to | 2 | | interfere with, restrain, coerce, deter, or discourage any | 3 | | public employee from: (i) becoming or remaining members of | 4 | | a labor organization, (ii) authorizing representation by a | 5 | | labor organization, or (iii) authorizing dues or fee | 6 | | deductions to a labor organization. | 7 | | (12) Promising, threatening, or taking any action (i) | 8 | | to permanently replace an employee who participates in a | 9 | | strike under Section 13 of this Act, (ii) to discriminate | 10 | | against an employee who is working or has unconditionally | 11 | | offered to return to work for the employer because the | 12 | | employee supported or participated in such as a strike, or
| 13 | | (iii) to lockout, suspend, or otherwise withhold from | 14 | | employment employees in order to influence the position of | 15 | | such employees or the representative of such employees in | 16 | | collective bargaining prior to a strike. | 17 | | (b) Employee organizations, their agents or | 18 | | representatives or educational
employees are prohibited from:
| 19 | | (1) Restraining or coercing employees in the exercise | 20 | | of the rights
guaranteed under this Act, provided that a | 21 | | labor organization or its
agents shall commit an unfair | 22 | | labor practice under this paragraph in duty
of fair | 23 | | representation cases only by intentional misconduct in | 24 | | representing
employees under this Act.
| 25 | | (2) Restraining or coercing an educational employer in | 26 | | the selection of
his representative for the purposes of |
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| 1 | | collective bargaining or the adjustment
of grievances.
| 2 | | (3) Refusing to bargain collectively in good faith | 3 | | with an educational
employer, if they have been designated | 4 | | in accordance with the provisions
of this Act as the | 5 | | exclusive representative of employees in an appropriate
| 6 | | unit.
| 7 | | (4) Violating any of the rules and regulations | 8 | | promulgated by the Board
regulating the conduct of | 9 | | representation elections.
| 10 | | (5) Refusing to reduce a collective bargaining | 11 | | agreement to writing and
signing such agreement.
| 12 | | (6) Refusing to comply with the provisions of a | 13 | | binding arbitration award.
| 14 | | (c) The expressing of any views, argument, opinion or the
| 15 | | dissemination thereof, whether in written, printed, graphic or | 16 | | visual form,
shall not constitute or be evidence of an unfair | 17 | | labor practice under any
of the provisions of this Act, if such | 18 | | expression contains no threat of
reprisal or force or promise | 19 | | of benefit.
| 20 | | (c-5) The employer shall not discourage public employees | 21 | | or applicants to be public employees from becoming or | 22 | | remaining union members or authorizing dues deductions, and | 23 | | shall not otherwise interfere with the relationship between | 24 | | employees and their exclusive bargaining representative. The | 25 | | employer shall refer all inquiries about union membership to | 26 | | the exclusive bargaining representative, except that the |
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| 1 | | employer may communicate with employees regarding payroll | 2 | | processes and procedures. The employer will establish email | 3 | | policies in an effort to prohibit the use of its email system | 4 | | by outside sources. | 5 | | (d) The actions of a Financial Oversight Panel created | 6 | | pursuant to Section
1A-8
of the School Code due to a district | 7 | | violating a financial plan shall not
constitute or be evidence | 8 | | of an unfair labor practice under any of the
provisions of this | 9 | | Act. Such actions include, but are not limited to,
reviewing, | 10 | | approving, or rejecting a school district budget or a | 11 | | collective
bargaining agreement.
| 12 | | (Source: P.A. 101-620, eff. 12-20-19; revised 8-21-20.)".
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