Public Act 097-0007
 
HB1197 EnrolledLRB097 06187 NHT 46261 b

    AN ACT concerning education.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. If and only if Senate Bill 7 as passed by the
97th General Assembly becomes law, the Illinois Educational
Labor Relations Act is amended by changing Sections 4.5, 12,
and 13 as follows:
 
    (115 ILCS 5/4.5)
    Sec. 4.5. Subjects of collective bargaining.
    (a) Notwithstanding the existence of any other provision in
this Act or other law, collective bargaining between an
educational employer whose territorial boundaries are
coterminous with those of a city having a population in excess
of 500,000 and an exclusive representative of its employees may
include any of the following subjects:
        (1) (Blank).
        (2) Decisions to contract with a third party for one or
    more services otherwise performed by employees in a
    bargaining unit and the procedures for obtaining such
    contract or the identity of the third party.
        (3) Decisions to layoff or reduce in force employees.
        (4) Decisions to determine class size, class staffing
    and assignment, class schedules, academic calendar, length
    of the work and school day with respect to a public school
    district organized under Article 34 of the School Code
    only, length of the work and school year with respect to a
    public school district organized under Article 34 of the
    School Code only, hours and places of instruction, or pupil
    assessment policies.
        (5) Decisions concerning use and staffing of
    experimental or pilot programs and decisions concerning
    use of technology to deliver educational programs and
    services and staffing to provide the technology.
    (b) The subject or matters described in subsection (a) are
permissive subjects of bargaining between an educational
employer and an exclusive representative of its employees and,
for the purpose of this Act, are within the sole discretion of
the educational employer to decide to bargain, provided that
the educational employer is required to bargain over the impact
of a decision concerning such subject or matter on the
bargaining unit upon request by the exclusive representative.
During this bargaining, the educational employer shall not be
precluded from implementing its decision. If, after a
reasonable period of bargaining, a dispute or impasse exists
between the educational employer and the exclusive
representative, the dispute or impasse shall be resolved
exclusively as set forth in subsection (b) of Section 12 of
this Act in lieu of a strike under Section 13 of this Act.
Neither the Board nor any mediator or fact-finder appointed
pursuant to subsection (a-10) of Section 12 of this Act shall
have jurisdiction over such a dispute or impasse.
    (c) A provision in a collective bargaining agreement that
was rendered null and void because it involved a prohibited
subject of collective bargaining under this subsection (c) as
this subsection (c) existed before the effective date of this
amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly remains null and
void and shall not otherwise be reinstated in any successor
agreement unless the educational employer and exclusive
representative otherwise agree to include an agreement reached
on a subject or matter described in subsection (a) of this
Section as subsection (a) existed before this amendatory Act of
the 93rd General Assembly.
(Source: P.A. 93-3, eff. 4-16-03; 09700SB0007enr.)
 
    (115 ILCS 5/12)  (from Ch. 48, par. 1712)
    Sec. 12. Impasse procedures.
    (a) This subsection (a) applies only to collective
bargaining between an educational employer that is not a public
school district organized under Article 34 of the School Code
and an exclusive representative of its employees. If the
parties engaged in collective bargaining have not reached an
agreement by 90 days before the scheduled start of the
forthcoming school year, the parties shall notify the Illinois
Educational Labor Relations Board concerning the status of
negotiations. This notice shall include a statement on whether
mediation has been used.
    Upon demand of either party, collective bargaining between
the employer and an exclusive bargaining representative must
begin within 60 days of the date of certification of the
representative by the Board, or in the case of an existing
exclusive bargaining representative, within 60 days of the
receipt by a party of a demand to bargain issued by the other
party. Once commenced, collective bargaining must continue for
at least a 60 day period, unless a contract is entered into.
    Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this
Section, if after a reasonable period of negotiation and within
90 days of the scheduled start of the forth-coming school year,
the parties engaged in collective bargaining have reached an
impasse, either party may petition the Board to initiate
mediation. Alternatively, the Board on its own motion may
initiate mediation during this period. However, mediation
shall be initiated by the Board at any time when jointly
requested by the parties and the services of the mediators
shall continuously be made available to the employer and to the
exclusive bargaining representative for purposes of
arbitration of grievances and mediation or arbitration of
contract disputes. If requested by the parties, the mediator
may perform fact-finding and in so doing conduct hearings and
make written findings and recommendations for resolution of the
dispute. Such mediation shall be provided by the Board and
shall be held before qualified impartial individuals. Nothing
prohibits the use of other individuals or organizations such as
the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service or the American
Arbitration Association selected by both the exclusive
bargaining representative and the employer.
    If the parties engaged in collective bargaining fail to
reach an agreement within 45 days of the scheduled start of the
forthcoming school year and have not requested mediation, the
Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board shall invoke
mediation.
    Whenever mediation is initiated or invoked under this
subsection (a), the parties may stipulate to defer selection of
a mediator in accordance with rules adopted by the Board.
    (a-5) This subsection (a-5) applies only to collective
bargaining between a public school district or a combination of
public school districts, including, but not limited to, joint
cooperatives, that is not organized under Article 34 of the
School Code and an exclusive representative of its employees.
        (1) Any time 15 days after mediation has commenced
    after 15 days of mediation, either party may declare an
    impasse. The mediator may declare an impasse at any time
    during the mediation process. Notification of an impasse
    must be filed in writing with the Board, and copies of the
    notification must be submitted to the parties on the same
    day the notification is filed with the Board.
        (2) Within 7 days after the declaration of impasse,
    each party shall submit to the mediator, the Board, and the
    other party in writing the final offer of the party,
    including a cost summary of the offer. Seven days after
    receipt of the parties' final offers, the Board mediator
    shall make public the final offers and each party's cost
    summary dealing with those issues on which the parties have
    failed to reach agreement by immediately posting the offers
    on its Internet website, unless otherwise notified by the
    mediator or jointly by the parties that agreement has been
    reached. The mediator shall make the final offers public by
    filing them with the Board, which shall immediately post
    the offers on its Internet website. On the same day of
    publication by the mediator, at a minimum, the school
    district shall distribute notice of the availability of the
    offers on the Board's Internet website to all news media
    that have filed an annual request for notices from the
    school district pursuant to Section 2.02 of the Open
    Meetings Act.
    (a-10) This subsection (a-10) applies only to collective
bargaining between a public school district organized under
Article 34 of the School Code and an exclusive representative
of its employees.
        (1) For collective bargaining agreements between an
    educational employer to which this subsection (a-10)
    applies whose territorial boundaries are coterminous with
    those of a city having a population in excess of 500,000
    and an exclusive representative of its employees, if the
    parties fail to reach an agreement after a reasonable
    period of mediation, the dispute shall be submitted to
    fact-finding in accordance with this subsection (a-10).
    Either the educational employer or the exclusive
    representative may initiate fact-finding by submitting a
    written demand to the other party with a copy of the demand
    submitted simultaneously to the Board.
        (2) Within 3 days following a party's demand for
    fact-finding, each party shall appoint one member of the
    fact-finding panel, unless the parties agree to proceed
    without a tri-partite panel. Following these appointments,
    if any, the parties shall select a qualified impartial
    individual to serve as the fact-finder and chairperson of
    the fact-finding panel, if applicable. An individual shall
    be considered qualified to serve as the fact-finder and
    chairperson of the fact-finding panel, if applicable, if he
    or she was not the same individual who was appointed as the
    mediator and if he or she satisfies the following
    requirements: membership in good standing with the
    National Academy of Arbitrators, Federal Mediation and
    Conciliation Service, or American Arbitration Association
    for a minimum of 10 years; membership on the mediation
    roster for the Illinois Labor Relations Board or Illinois
    Educational Labor Relations Board; issuance of at least 5
    interest arbitration awards arising under the Illinois
    Public Labor Relations Act; and participation in impasse
    resolution processes arising under private or public
    sector collective bargaining statutes in other states. If
    the parties are unable to agree on a fact-finder, the
    parties shall request a panel of fact-finders who satisfy
    the requirements set forth in this paragraph (2) from
    either the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service or
    the American Arbitration Association and shall select a
    fact-finder from such panel in accordance with the
    procedures established by the organization providing the
    panel.
        (3) The fact-finder shall have the following duties and
    powers:
            (A) to require the parties to submit a statement of
        disputed issues and their positions regarding each
        issue either jointly or separately;
            (B) to identify disputed issues that are economic
        in nature;
            (C) to meet with the parties either separately or
        in executive sessions;
            (D) to conduct hearings and regulate the time,
        place, course, and manner of the hearings;
            (E) to request the Board to issue subpoenas
        requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses or
        the production of evidence;
            (F) to administer oaths and affirmations;
            (G) to examine witnesses and documents;
            (H) to create a full and complete written record of
        the hearings;
            (I) to attempt mediation or remand a disputed issue
        to the parties for further collective bargaining;
            (J) to require the parties to submit final offers
        for each disputed issue either individually or as a
        package or as a combination of both; and
            (K) to employ any other measures deemed
        appropriate to resolve the impasse.
        (4) If the dispute is not settled within 75 days after
    the appointment of the fact-finding panel, the
    fact-finding panel shall issue a private report to the
    parties that contains advisory findings of fact and
    recommended terms of settlement for all disputed issues and
    that sets forth a rationale for each recommendation. The
    fact-finding panel, acting by a majority of its members,
    shall base its findings and recommendations upon the
    following criteria as applicable:
            (A) the lawful authority of the employer;
            (B) the federal and State statutes or local
        ordinances and resolutions applicable to the employer;
            (C) prior collective bargaining agreements and the
        bargaining history between the parties;
            (D) stipulations of the parties;
            (E) the interests and welfare of the public and the
        students and families served by the employer;
            (F) the employer's financial ability to fund the
        proposals based on existing available resources,
        provided that such ability is not predicated on an
        assumption that lines of credit or reserve funds are
        available or that the employer may or will receive or
        develop new sources of revenue or increase existing
        sources of revenue;
            (G) the impact of any economic adjustments on the
        employer's ability to pursue its educational mission;
            (H) the present and future general economic
        conditions in the locality and State;
            (I) a comparison of the wages, hours, and
        conditions of employment of the employees involved in
        the dispute with the wages, hours, and conditions of
        employment of employees performing similar services in
        public education in the 10 largest U.S. cities;
            (J) the average consumer prices in urban areas for
        goods and services, which is commonly known as the cost
        of living;
            (K) the overall compensation presently received by
        the employees involved in the dispute, including
        direct wage compensation; vacations, holidays, and
        other excused time; insurance and pensions; medical
        and hospitalization benefits; the continuity and
        stability of employment and all other benefits
        received; and how each party's proposed compensation
        structure supports the educational goals of the
        district;
            (L) changes in any of the circumstances listed in
        items (A) through (K) of this paragraph (4) during the
        fact-finding proceedings;
            (M) the effect that any term the parties are at
        impasse on has or may have on the overall educational
        environment, learning conditions, and working
        conditions with the school district; and
            (N) the effect that any term the parties are at
        impasse on has or may have in promoting the public
        policy of this State.
        (5) The fact-finding panel's recommended terms of
    settlement shall be deemed agreed upon by the parties as
    the final resolution of the disputed issues and
    incorporated into the collective bargaining agreement
    executed by the parties, unless either party tenders to the
    other party and the chairperson of the fact-finding panel a
    notice of rejection of the recommended terms of settlement
    with a rationale for the rejection, within 15 days after
    the date of issuance of the fact-finding panel's report. If
    either party submits a notice of rejection, the chairperson
    of the fact-finding panel shall publish the fact-finding
    panel's report and the notice of rejection for public
    information by delivering a copy to all newspapers of
    general circulation in the community with simultaneous
    written notice to the parties.
    (b) If, after a period of bargaining of at least 60 days, a
dispute or impasse exists between an educational employer whose
territorial boundaries are coterminous with those of a city
having a population in excess of 500,000 and the exclusive
bargaining representative over a subject or matter set forth in
Section 4.5 of this Act, the parties shall submit the dispute
or impasse to the dispute resolution procedure agreed to
between the parties. The procedure shall provide for mediation
of disputes by a rotating mediation panel and may, at the
request of either party, include the issuance of advisory
findings of fact and recommendations. A dispute or impasse over
any Section 4.5 subject shall not be resolved through the
procedures set forth in this Act, and the Board, mediator, or
fact-finder has no jurisdiction over any Section 4.5 subject.
The changes made to this subsection (b) by this amendatory Act
of the 97th General Assembly are declarative of existing law.
    (c) The costs of fact finding and mediation shall be shared
equally between the employer and the exclusive bargaining
agent, provided that, for purposes of mediation under this Act,
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. All other costs and
expenses of complying with this Section must be borne by the
party incurring them.
    (c-5) If an educational employer or exclusive bargaining
representative refuses to participate in mediation or fact
finding when required by this Section, the refusal shall be
deemed a refusal to bargain in good faith.
    (d) Nothing in this Act prevents an employer and an
exclusive bargaining representative from mutually submitting
to final and binding impartial arbitration unresolved issues
concerning the terms of a new collective bargaining agreement.
(Source: P.A. 93-3, eff. 4-16-03; 09700SB0007enr.)
 
    (115 ILCS 5/13)  (from Ch. 48, par. 1713)
    Sec. 13. Strikes.
    (a) Notwithstanding the existence of any other provision in
this Act or other law, educational employees employed in school
districts organized under Article 34 of the School Code shall
not engage in a strike at any time during the 18 month period
that commences on the effective date of this amendatory Act of
1995. An educational employee employed in a school district
organized under Article 34 of the School Code who participates
in a strike in violation of this Section is subject to
discipline by the employer. In addition, no educational
employer organized under Article 34 of the School Code may pay
or cause to be paid to an educational employee who participates
in a strike in violation of this subsection any wages or other
compensation for any period during which an educational
employee participates in the strike, except for wages or
compensation earned before participation in the strike.
Notwithstanding the existence of any other provision in this
Act or other law, during the 18-month period that strikes are
prohibited under this subsection nothing in this subsection
shall be construed to require an educational employer to submit
to a binding dispute resolution process.
    (b) Notwithstanding the existence of any other provision in
this Act or any other law, educational employees other than
those employed in a school district organized under Article 34
of the School Code and, after the expiration of the 18 month
period that commences on the effective date of this amendatory
Act of 1995, educational employees in a school district
organized under Article 34 of the School Code shall not engage
in a strike except under the following conditions:
        (1)   they are represented by an exclusive bargaining
    representative;
        (2)   mediation has been used without success and, if
    an impasse has been declared under subsection (a-5) of
    Section 12 of this Act, at least 14 days have elapsed after
    the mediator has made public the final offers;
        (2.5) if fact-finding was invoked pursuant to
    subsection (a-10) of Section 12 of this Act, at least 30
    days have elapsed after a fact-finding report has been
    released for public information;
        (2.10) for educational employees employed in a school
    district organized under Article 34 of the School Code, at
    least three-fourths of all bargaining unit employees who
    are members of the exclusive bargaining representative
    have affirmatively voted to authorize the strike;
    provided, however, that all members of the exclusive
    bargaining representative at the time of a strike
    authorization vote shall be eligible to vote;
        (3)   at least 10 days have elapsed after a notice of
    intent to strike has been given by the exclusive bargaining
    representative to the educational employer, the regional
    superintendent and the Illinois Educational Labor
    Relations Board;
        (4)   the collective bargaining agreement between the
    educational employer and educational employees, if any,
    has expired or been terminated; and
        (5)   the employer and the exclusive bargaining
    representative have not mutually submitted the unresolved
    issues to arbitration.
    If, however, in the opinion of an employer the strike is or
has become a clear and present danger to the health or safety
of the public, the employer may initiate in the circuit court
of the county in which such danger exists an action for relief
which may include, but is not limited to, injunction. The court
may grant appropriate relief upon the finding that such clear
and present danger exists. An unfair practice or other evidence
of lack of clean hands by the educational employer is a defense
to such action. Except as provided for in this paragraph, the
jurisdiction of the court under this Section is limited by the
Labor Dispute Act.
(Source: P.A. 89-15, eff. 5-30-95; 90-548, eff. 1-1-98;
09700SB0007enr.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law or on the effective date of Senate Bill 7 of the
97th General Assembly, whichever is later.