(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 tenured and tenure-track
academic faculty at
each campus
of
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 and tenure-track
faculty
of that University campus employed by the board of trustees in all of the campus's undergraduate, graduate, and
professional
schools and degree and non-degree programs
(with the exception of the college of medicine, the college of pharmacy,
the college of dentistry, the college of law, and the college of veterinary
medicine, each of which shall have its own separate unit), 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 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 |
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. The showing of interest in support of a petition filed under paragraph (1) of this subsection (c) may be evidenced by electronic communications, and such writing or communication may be evidenced by the electronic signature of the employee as provided under Section 5-120 of the Electronic Commerce Security Act. The showing of interest shall be valid only if signed within 12 months prior to the filing of the petition. 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 or other
evidence, or, if necessary, by conducting an election. The showing of interest in support of a petition filed under this subsection (c-5) may be evidenced by electronic communications, and such writing or communication may be evidenced by the electronic
signature of the employee as provided under Section 5-120 of the Electronic Commerce Security Act. The showing of interest shall be valid only if signed within 12 months prior to the filing of the petition. All evidence submitted by an employee organization to the Board to ascertain an employee's choice of an employee organization is confidential and shall not be submitted to the employer for review. The Board shall ascertain the employee's choice of employee organization within 120 days after the filing of the majority interest petition; however, the Board may extend time by an additional 60 days, upon its own motion or upon the motion of a party to the proceeding. 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. If a hearing is necessary to resolve any issues of representation under this Section, the Board shall conclude its hearing process and issue a certification of the entire appropriate unit not later than 120 days after the date the petition was filed. The 120-day period may be extended one or more times by the agreement of all parties to a hearing to a date certain.
(c-6) A labor organization or an employer may file a unit clarification petition seeking to clarify an existing bargaining unit. The Board shall conclude its investigation, including any hearing process deemed necessary, and issue a certification of clarified unit or dismiss the petition not later than 120 days after the date the petition was filed. The 120-day period may be extended one or more times by the agreement of all parties to a hearing to a date certain.
(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. 102-596, eff. 8-27-21.)
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