(5 ILCS 315/14) (from Ch. 48, par. 1614)
Sec. 14. Security employee, peace officer and fire fighter disputes.
(a) In the case of collective bargaining agreements involving units of
security employees of a public employer, Peace Officer Units, or units of
fire fighters or paramedics, and in the case of disputes under Section 18,
unless the parties mutually agree to some other time limit, mediation
shall commence 30 days prior to the expiration date of such agreement or
at such later time as the mediation services chosen under subsection (b) of
Section 12 can be provided to the parties. In the case of negotiations
for an initial collective bargaining agreement, mediation shall commence
upon 15 days notice from either party or at such later time as the
mediation services chosen pursuant to subsection (b) of Section 12 can be
provided to the parties. In mediation under this Section, if either party
requests the use of mediation services from the Federal Mediation and
Conciliation Service, the other party shall either join in such request or
bear the additional cost of mediation services from another source. The
mediator shall have a duty to keep the Board informed on the progress of
the mediation. If any dispute has not been resolved within 15 days after
the first meeting of the parties and the mediator, or within such other
time limit as may be mutually agreed upon by the parties, either the
exclusive representative or employer may request of the other, in writing,
arbitration, and shall submit a copy of the request to the Board.
(b) Within 10 days after such a request for arbitration has been
made, the employer shall choose a delegate and
the employees' exclusive representative shall choose a delegate to a panel
of arbitration as provided in this Section. The employer and employees
shall forthwith advise the other and the Board of their selections.
(c) Within 7 days after the request of either party, the parties shall request a panel of impartial arbitrators from which they shall select the neutral chairman according to the procedures provided in this Section. If the parties have agreed to a contract that contains a grievance resolution procedure as provided in Section 8, the chairman shall be selected using their agreed contract procedure unless they mutually agree to another procedure. If the parties fail to notify the Board of their selection of neutral chairman within 7 days after receipt of the list of impartial arbitrators, the Board shall appoint, at random, a neutral chairman from the list. In the absence of an agreed contract procedure for selecting an impartial arbitrator, either party may request a panel from the Board. Within 7 days of the request of either party, the Board shall select
from the Public Employees Labor Mediation Roster 7 persons who are on the
labor arbitration panels of either the American Arbitration Association or
the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, or who are members of the
National Academy of Arbitrators, as nominees for
impartial arbitrator of the arbitration panel. The parties may select an
individual on the list provided by the Board or any other individual
mutually agreed upon by the parties. Within 7 days following the receipt
of the list, the parties shall notify the Board of the person they have
selected. Unless the parties agree on an alternate selection procedure,
they shall alternatively strike one name from the list provided by the
Board until only one name remains. A coin toss shall determine which party
shall strike the first name. If the parties fail to notify the Board in a
timely manner of their selection for neutral chairman, the Board shall
appoint a neutral chairman from the Illinois Public Employees
Mediation/Arbitration Roster.
(d) The chairman shall call a hearing to begin within 15 days and give
reasonable notice of the time and place of the hearing. The hearing
shall be held at the offices of the Board or at such other location as the
Board deems appropriate. The chairman shall preside over the hearing and
shall take testimony. Any oral or documentary evidence and other data
deemed relevant by the arbitration panel may be received in evidence. The
proceedings shall be informal. Technical rules of evidence shall not apply
and the competency of the evidence shall not thereby be deemed impaired. A
verbatim record of the proceedings shall be made and the arbitrator shall
arrange for the necessary recording service. Transcripts may be ordered at
the expense of the party ordering them, but the transcripts shall not be
necessary for a decision by the arbitration panel. The expense of the
proceedings, including a fee for the chairman, shall be borne equally by each of the parties to the dispute.
The delegates, if public officers or employees, shall continue on the
payroll of the public employer without loss of pay. The hearing conducted
by the arbitration panel may be adjourned from time to time, but unless
otherwise agreed by the parties, shall be concluded within 30 days of the
time of its commencement. Majority actions and rulings shall constitute
the actions and rulings of the arbitration panel. Arbitration proceedings
under this Section shall not be interrupted or terminated by reason of any
unfair labor practice charge filed by either party at any time.
(e) The arbitration panel may administer oaths, require the attendance
of witnesses, and the production of such books, papers, contracts, agreements
and documents as may be deemed by it material to a just determination of
the issues in dispute, and for such purpose may issue subpoenas. If any
person refuses to obey a subpoena, or refuses to be sworn or to testify,
or if any witness, party or attorney is guilty of any contempt while in
attendance at any hearing, the arbitration panel may, or the attorney general
if requested shall, invoke the aid of any circuit court within the jurisdiction
in which the hearing is being held, which court shall issue an appropriate
order. Any failure to obey the order may be punished by the court as contempt.
(f) At any time before the rendering of an award, the chairman of the
arbitration panel, if he is of the opinion that it would be useful or
beneficial to do so, may remand the dispute to the parties for further
collective bargaining for a period not to exceed 2 weeks. If the dispute
is remanded for further collective bargaining the time provisions of this
Act shall be extended for a time period equal to that of the remand. The
chairman of the panel of arbitration shall notify the Board of the remand.
(g) At or before the conclusion of the hearing held pursuant to subsection
(d), the arbitration panel shall identify the economic issues in dispute,
and direct each of the parties to submit, within such time limit as the
panel shall prescribe, to the arbitration panel and to each other its last
offer of settlement on each economic issue. The determination of the
arbitration panel as to the issues in dispute and as to which of these
issues are economic shall be conclusive. The arbitration panel, within 30
days after the conclusion of the hearing, or such further additional
periods to which the parties may agree, shall make written findings of fact
and promulgate a written opinion and shall mail or otherwise deliver a true
copy thereof to the parties and their representatives and to the Board. As
to each economic issue, the arbitration panel shall adopt the last offer of
settlement which, in the opinion of the arbitration panel, more nearly
complies with the applicable factors prescribed in subsection (h). The
findings, opinions and order as to all other issues shall be based upon the
applicable factors prescribed in subsection (h).
(h) Where there is no agreement between the parties, or where there is
an agreement but the parties have begun negotiations or discussions looking
to a new agreement or amendment of the existing agreement, and wage rates
or other conditions of employment under the proposed new or amended agreement
are in dispute, the arbitration panel shall base its findings, opinions
and order upon the following factors, as applicable:
(1) The lawful authority of the employer.
(2) Stipulations of the parties.
(3) The interests and welfare of the public and the financial ability of the unit of |
(i) In the case of peace officers, the arbitration decision shall be
limited to wages, hours, and conditions of employment (which may include
residency requirements in municipalities with a population under 100,000, but
those residency requirements shall not allow residency outside of Illinois)
and shall not include
the following: i) residency requirements in municipalities with a population
of at least 100,000; ii) the type of equipment, other
than uniforms, issued or used; iii) manning; iv) the total number of
employees employed by the department; v) mutual aid and assistance
agreements to other units of government; and vi) the criterion pursuant to
which force, including deadly force, can be used; provided, nothing herein
shall preclude an arbitration decision regarding equipment or manning
levels if such decision is based on a finding that the equipment or manning
considerations in a specific work assignment involve a serious risk to the
safety of a peace officer beyond that which is inherent in the normal
performance of police duties. Limitation of the terms of the arbitration
decision pursuant to this subsection shall not be construed to limit the
factors upon which the decision may be based, as set forth in subsection (h).
In the case of fire fighter, and fire department or fire district paramedic
matters, the arbitration decision shall be limited to wages, hours, and
conditions of employment (including manning and also including residency requirements in
municipalities with a population under 1,000,000, but those residency
requirements shall not allow residency outside of Illinois) and shall not
include the
following matters: i) residency requirements in municipalities with a
population of at least 1,000,000; ii) the type of equipment (other than
uniforms and fire fighter turnout gear) issued or used; iii) the total
number of employees employed by the department; iv) mutual aid and
assistance agreements to other units of government; and v) the criterion
pursuant to which force, including deadly force, can be used; provided,
however, nothing herein shall preclude an arbitration decision regarding
equipment levels if such decision is based on a finding that the equipment
considerations in a specific work assignment involve a serious risk to the
safety of a fire fighter beyond that which is inherent in the normal
performance of fire fighter duties. Limitation of the terms of the
arbitration decision pursuant to this subsection shall not be construed to
limit the facts upon which the decision may be based, as set forth in
subsection (h).
The changes to this subsection (i) made by Public Act 90-385 (relating to residency requirements) do not
apply to persons who are employed by a combined department that performs both
police and firefighting services; these persons shall be governed by the
provisions of this subsection (i) relating to peace officers, as they existed
before the amendment by Public Act 90-385.
To preserve historical bargaining rights, this subsection shall not apply
to any provision of a fire fighter collective bargaining agreement in effect
and applicable on the effective date of this Act; provided, however, nothing
herein shall preclude arbitration with respect to any such provision.
(j) Arbitration procedures shall be deemed to be initiated by the
filing of a letter requesting mediation as required under subsection (a)
of this Section. The commencement of a new municipal fiscal year after the
initiation of arbitration procedures under this Act, but before the
arbitration decision, or its enforcement, shall not be deemed to render a
dispute moot, or to otherwise impair the jurisdiction or authority of the
arbitration panel or its decision. Increases in rates
of compensation awarded by the arbitration panel may be effective only at
the start of the fiscal year next commencing after the date of the arbitration
award. If a new fiscal year has commenced either since the initiation of
arbitration procedures under this Act or since any mutually agreed
extension of the statutorily required period of mediation
under this Act by the parties to the labor dispute causing a
delay in the initiation of arbitration, the foregoing limitations shall be
inapplicable, and such awarded increases may be retroactive to the
commencement of the fiscal year, any other statute or charter provisions to
the contrary, notwithstanding. At any time the parties, by stipulation, may
amend or modify an award of arbitration.
(k) Orders of the arbitration panel shall be reviewable, upon
appropriate petition by either the public employer or the exclusive
bargaining representative, by the circuit court for the county in which the
dispute arose or in which a majority of the affected employees reside, but
only for reasons that the arbitration panel was without or exceeded its
statutory authority; the order is arbitrary, or capricious; or the order
was procured by fraud, collusion or other similar and unlawful means. Such
petitions for review must be filed with the appropriate circuit court
within 90 days following the issuance of the arbitration order. The
pendency of such proceeding for review shall not automatically stay the
order of the arbitration panel. The party against whom the final decision
of any such court shall be adverse, if such court finds such appeal or
petition to be frivolous, shall pay reasonable attorneys' fees and costs to
the successful party as determined by said court in its discretion. If said
court's decision affirms the award of money, such award, if retroactive,
shall bear interest at the rate of 12 percent per annum from the effective
retroactive date.
(l) During the pendency of proceedings before the arbitration panel,
existing wages, hours, and other conditions of employment shall not be
changed by action of either party without the consent of the other but a
party may so consent without prejudice to his rights or position under
this Act. The proceedings are deemed to be pending before the arbitration
panel upon the initiation of arbitration procedures under this Act.
(m) Security officers of public employers, and Peace Officers, Fire
Fighters and fire department and fire protection district paramedics,
covered by this Section may not withhold services, nor may public employers
lock out or prevent such employees from performing services at any time.
(n) All of the terms decided upon by the arbitration panel shall be included
in an agreement to be submitted to the public employer's governing body
for ratification and adoption by law, ordinance or the equivalent
appropriate means.
The governing body shall review each term decided by the arbitration panel.
If the governing body fails to reject one or more terms of the
arbitration panel's decision by a 3/5 vote of those duly elected and
qualified members of the governing body, within 20 days of issuance, or
in the case of firefighters employed by a state university, at the next
regularly scheduled meeting of the governing body after issuance, such
term or terms shall become a part of the collective bargaining agreement of
the parties. If the governing body affirmatively rejects one or more terms
of the arbitration panel's decision, it must provide reasons for such
rejection with respect to each term so rejected, within 20 days of such
rejection and the parties shall return to the arbitration panel
for further proceedings and issuance of a supplemental decision with respect
to the rejected terms. Any supplemental decision by an arbitration panel
or other decision maker agreed to by the parties shall be submitted to
the governing body for ratification and adoption in accordance with the
procedures and voting requirements set forth in this Section.
The voting requirements of this subsection shall apply to all disputes
submitted to arbitration pursuant to this Section notwithstanding any
contrary voting requirements contained in any existing collective
bargaining agreement between the parties.
(o) If the governing body of the employer votes to reject the panel's
decision, the parties shall return to the panel within 30 days from the
issuance of the reasons for rejection for further proceedings and issuance
of a supplemental decision. All reasonable costs of such supplemental
proceeding including the exclusive representative's reasonable attorney's
fees, as established by the Board, shall be paid by the employer.
(p) Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section the employer and
exclusive representative may agree to submit unresolved disputes concerning
wages, hours, terms and conditions of employment to an alternative form of
impasse resolution.
The amendatory changes to this Section made by Public Act 101-652 take effect July 1, 2022.
(Source: P.A. 101-652, eff. 7-1-21; 102-28, eff. 6-25-21.)
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