Elizabeth Ford

Summary

As compared with other states, the Illinois Labor Relations Board (“ILRB” or “Board) is unusually protective of the right to bargain. The Board is more protective still of the ability of police unions to bargain over employer decisions. In the last several years in cases involving the Chicago Police Department, the Board has moderated somewhat by, in key cases, refusing to issue a decision but rather holding the matter “in abeyance.” A few highlights follow:

  • Only Police Have the Right to Interest Arbitration. The Illinois Labor Relations Act requires police bargaining units to resolve contractual impasses through interest arbitration. Most other types of public sector workers have the right to strike during a contract hiatus, but during its term the CBA generally precludes a strike. For police bargaining units, however, an impasse in mid-term bargaining would still be resolved through interest arbitration.
  • Illinois’s Police Officers Bill of Rights Limits Any Changes to Disciplinary Processes. For police (but no other unit), the Board holds that the terms of the disciplinary process are set by Illinois’s Uniform Peace Officers Act and can be neither negotiated nor changed.
  • Illinois’s Board is Unusually Protective of the Right to Bargain for Both Police and Non-Police. The ILRB generally requires bargaining over changes to work rules because the violation of those rules could result in discipline. The decision to move work out of the bargaining unit is almost always a mandatory subject in all units.
  • In Politically Sensitive Police Cases, The Board Holds Police Decision “in Abeyance.” In cases involving the Chicago Police after the 2019 imposition of a consent decree, the Board has held the decisions over disciplinary enhancements “in abeyance” and ordered the parties to bargain. Likewise, the Board refused to decide whether the employer’s decision to make police video recordings public is a mandatory subject of bargaining, instead holding the case “in abeyance” and ordering bargaining.
  • Moving to Civil Service is a MSB for All Units. For both police and non-police, units, the Board has found that the decision to move review of disciplinary decision from private arbitration to a civil service forum to be a mandatory subject of bargaining.
  • Subcontracting More Likely to be an MSB for Police. The Board is more likely to find the decision to subcontract a mandatory subject in a police units than in other types of unit.

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