Public Act 101-0664
 
HB2275 EnrolledLRB101 06666 AXK 51693 b



    AN ACT concerning education.

 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 
represented in the General Assembly: 




 
 
    Section 5. The Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act is 
amended  by changing Section 12 as follows:
 



    (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, 
    either party may initiate the public posting process. The 
    mediator may initiate the public posting process at any 
    time 15 days after mediation has commenced during the 
    mediation process. Initiation of the public posting 
    process must be filed in writing with the Board, and copies 
    must be submitted to the parties on the same day the 
    initiation is filed with the Board.
        (2)  Within 7 days after the initiation of the public 
    posting process, each party shall submit to the mediator, 
    the Board, and the other party in writing the most recent 
    offer of the party, including a cost summary of the offer.  
    Seven days after receipt of the parties' offers, the Board 
    shall make public the 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.  On the same day of publication by the Board, 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. The parties' offers shall remain 
    on the Board's Internet website until the parties have 
    reached and ratified an agreement. 
    (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 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) (Blank). 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. 

    (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. 97-7, eff. 6-13-11; 97-8, eff. 6-13-11; 98-513, 
eff. 1-1-14.)

 

    (115 ILCS 5/4.5 rep.)

    Section 10. The Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act is 
amended  by repealing Section 4.5.
 
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
becoming law.