HB0915ham001 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Labor Committee

Adopted in House Comm. on Feb 24, 2005

09400HB0915ham001 LRB094 03798 RLC 41468 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 915

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 915 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Project Labor Agreement Act.

Section 5. Purposes. The General Assembly finds that:

(1) The State of Illinois has a compelling interest in awarding public works contracts so as to ensure the highest standards of quality and efficiency at the lowest responsible cost.

(2) A project labor agreement, which is a form of pre-hire collective bargaining agreement covering all terms and conditions of employment on a specific project, can ensure the highest standards of quality and efficiency at the lowest responsible cost on appropriate public works projects.

(3) The State of Illinois has a compelling interest that a highly skilled workforce be employed on public works projects to ensure lower costs over the lifetime of the completed project for building, repairs, and maintenance.

(4) Project labor agreements provide the State of Illinois with a guarantee that public works projects will be completed with highly skilled workers.

(5) Project labor agreements provide for peaceful, orderly and mutually binding procedures for resolving labor issues without labor disruption, which has historically resulted in significant losttime on construction projects.

(6) Project labor agreements allow public agencies to predict more accurately the actual cost of the public works project.

(7) The use of project labor agreements can be of specific benefit to complex construction projects.

Section 10. Project labor agreements required.

(a) On a project-by-project basis, a State department, agency, authority, board, or instrumentality that is under the control of the Governor shall include a project labor agreement on a public works project where the department, agency, authority, board, or instrumentality has determined that such agreement advances the State's interests of cost, efficiency, quality, safety, timeliness, skilled labor force, and labor stability or the State's policy to advance minority-owned and women-owned businesses and minority and female employment.

(b) Where it has been determined that a project labor agreement is appropriate for a particular public works project, the State department, agency, authority, board, or instrumentality responsible for implementing the project shall in good faith negotiate a project labor agreement with labor organizations engaged in the construction industry. In the event that the State department, agency, authority, board, or instrumentality and the labor organizations engaged in the construction industry ("the parties") cannot agree to the terms of the project labor agreement, the Governor shall appoint a designee to assist the parties in reaching an agreement.

(c) Pursuant to this Act, any project labor agreement:

(1) shall set forth effective, immediate, and mutually binding procedures for resolving jurisdictional labor disputes and grievances arising before the completion of work;

(2) shall contain guarantees against strikes, lockouts, and similar actions;

(3) shall ensure a reliable source of skilled and experienced labor;

(4) shall further public policy objectives as to improved employment opportunities for minorities and women in the construction industry, to the extent permitted by State and federal law;

(5) shall permit the selection of the lowest qualified responsible bidder, without regard to union or non-union status at other construction sites;

(6) shall be made binding on all contractors and subcontractors on the public works project through the inclusion of appropriate bid specifications in all relevant bid documents; and

(7) shall include such other terms as the parties deem appropriate.

(d) Any decision to use a project labor agreement in connection with a public works project by a State department, agency, authority, board, or instrumentality shall be supported by a written, publicly disclosed finding by such department, agency, authority, board, or instrumentality setting forth the justification for use of the project labor agreement.

(e) All State departments, agencies, authorities, boards, and instrumentalities shall ensure that all public works projects are implemented in a manner consistent with the terms of this Act and are in full compliance with all statutes, regulations, and Executive Orders.

(f) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to contravene any State or federal law or to jeopardize the State's entitlement to federal funding. If any provision of this Act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, this invalidity does not affect any other provision or application of this Act that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application. To achieve this purpose, the provisions of this Act are declared to be severable.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.".