(230 ILCS 5/15.5)

Sec. 15.5. Labor agreements.

(a) This Section applies to each entity subject to this Act that has at least 10 employees on average over the 12 months preceding application for an organization gaming license.

(b) Before an organization gaming license may be granted or renewed, the applicant or licensee seeking an organization gaming license or renewal shall:

(1) Enter into, and observe, the terms of a collective bargaining agreement with any labor organization seeking to represent a majority of the licensee's employees in a bargaining unit consisting of all non-supervisory and non-management employees in the classifications identified by the labor organization. Any new employees hired by the licensee who perform work substantially similar to current employees in an existing bargaining unit already represented by a labor organization at the facility shall be incorporated into that existing bargaining unit.

(2) Upon written notice by a labor organization of its desire to represent employees in a designated bargaining unit, the licensee shall:

(A) provide the names, classifications, and home addresses of each and every employee in the identified bargaining unit;

(B) refrain from expressing any views on the question whether its employees should be represented by a labor organization;

(C) refrain from restraining or coercing its employees in choosing to be represented or not represented by a labor organization; and

(D) allow designated representatives of the labor organization access to its non-work areas for the purpose of meeting privately with its employees during non-working times.

(3) Upon a showing of majority interest, to be certified through card check by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service or from a designated arbitrator from a permanent panel of arbitrators appointed by the Illinois Racing Board, the licensee and the labor organization shall immediately enter into negotiations for a collective bargaining agreement.

(4) If the parties are unable to conclude a labor agreement within 60 days following the date of certification, the terms of the agreement shall be set by an arbitrator jointly selected by the parties from a panel of arbitrators designated by the Illinois Racing Board, who shall issue a final and binding award within 120 days after the date of certification, if the parties fail to conclude an agreement by that date. Except with regard to the minimum requirements in paragraph (5), the arbitrator shall be guided by the terms of labor agreements covering the same or similar classifications of employees within 100 miles of the facility or facilities for which the agreement is negotiated. The arbitrator shall also resolve all disputes regarding the scope and composition of the bargaining unit covered under the labor agreement. The licensee and the labor organization shall share equally the expenses of the arbitrator. No labor agreement shall cover employees in a bargaining unit for which another labor organization has been certified as a bargaining representative under this Act and that continues to actively represent such employees.

(5) All labor agreements required under this Section shall, at a minimum, include a:

(A) term of at least 3 years;

(B) prohibition on strikes or other work stoppages by the labor organization and the represented employees during the term of the labor agreement; and

(C) restriction on subcontracting any work performed on or about the licensee's premises as part of its normal operations except by mutual agreement with the labor organization, and then only to a person or firm that is signatory to a labor agreement with a labor organization that has indicated its interest in representing the employees of the subcontractor, provided, the subcontractor's employees are not lawfully represented by another labor organization.

(6) A copy of the fully executed labor agreement shall be submitted to the Illinois Racing Board prior to the issuance or renewal of any organization gaming license required under this Act.

(c) Upon the expiration of a labor agreement required under this Section, the parties shall negotiate a successor agreement under the procedures set forth in paragraphs (4) and (5) of subsection (b), except that the negotiation and arbitration procedures shall commence upon the last effective day of the expiring labor agreement.

(d) The provisions of this Section, except for paragraph (2) of subsection (b), do not apply to any entity that is covered, or subsequently becomes covered, under the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. 151 et seq. However, nothing in this Act shall affect or diminish the validity and enforceability of any collective bargaining agreement entered into during the period that this Act applies.

(Source: P.A. 101-651, eff. 8-7-20.)