Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 38, September 20, 2024
Parties may petition the Board's General Counsel for a
declaratory ruling, pursuant to Section 5-150 of the Illinois Administrative
Procedure Act [5 ILCS
100/5-150] , as follows:
a) In general public employee bargaining
units covered by 80 Ill. Adm. Code 1230.Subpart C, if, after the commencement
of negotiations and before reaching agreement, the exclusive representative and
the employer have a good faith disagreement over whether the Act requires
bargaining over a particular subject or particular subjects, they may jointly
petition for a declaratory ruling concerning the status of the law.
1) The petition must be signed by both
parties and must contain the name, address, email address, telephone number and
person to contact for each party, the date negotiations began, a statement of
the legal issue on which a declaratory ruling is sought, and a copy of the most
recently negotiated contract, if any.
2) Declaratory rulings shall not be issued
concerning factual issues that are in dispute.
3) Each party shall file a brief no later
than 10 days after the filing of the petition, unless an extension has been
granted by the General Counsel.
4)
Any party desiring oral argument shall request oral argument in writing prior
to or at the time of the filing of its brief. The General Counsel shall
determine whether oral argument is warranted by the particular issues involved.
Oral argument shall be held no later than 7 days after the filing of the
briefs.
5) The General Counsel
shall issue a declaratory ruling no later than 45 days after receipt of the
parties' briefs. Pursuant to Board practice and caselaw, the Board considers
General Counsel declaratory rulings to be non-binding advisory opinions.
Consequently, the Board's General Counsel declaratory rulings are not
appealable.
6) The parties shall
continue to have a duty to bargain in good faith during the pendency of a
declaratory ruling petition. The pendency of a declaratory ruling petition
shall not stay the running of the 60 and 30 day notice periods provided in 80
Ill. Adm. Code
1230.140(a),
(b), and (c). Nor shall the pendency of a
declaratory ruling petition stay the running of the 5 day notice of intent to
strike required under Section 17(a)(5) of the Act.
b) In protective service employee bargaining
units covered by 80 Ill. Adm. Code 1230.Subpart B, if, after the commencement
of negotiations and before reaching agreement, the exclusive representative and
the employer have a good faith disagreement over whether the Act requires
bargaining over a particular subject or particular subjects, they may jointly
petition for a declaratory ruling concerning the status of the law. If a
request for interest arbitration has been served in accordance with 80 Ill.
Adm. Code
1230.70 and either the
exclusive representative or the employer has requested the other party to join
it in filing a declaratory ruling petition and the other party has refused the
request, the requesting party may file the petition on its own, provided that
the petition is filed no later than the first day of the interest arbitration
hearing.
1) A joint petition must be signed
by both parties. A petition filed by only one party must contain a statement
that the other party has refused a request to join in the petition, and must
contain a copy of the request for interest arbitration. All petitions must
contain the name, address, email address, telephone number and person to
contact for each party, the date negotiations began, a statement of the legal
issue on which a declaratory ruling is sought, and a copy of the most recently
negotiated contract, if any.
2)
Declaratory rulings shall not be issued concerning factual issues that are in
dispute. In the case of a unilateral petition for declaratory ruling in which
the General Counsel has determined that material issues of fact are in dispute,
the General Counsel may either dismiss the petition without prejudice to the
requesting party's right to file an unfair labor practice charge, or, where the
General Counsel determines that a fact-finding of the disputed factual issues
will facilitate a determination of the issues that are the subject of the
petition, the issuance of the declaratory ruling may be deferred and the
disputed issues of fact referred to the Interest Arbitration Panel for
determination.
3) Each party shall
file a brief no later than 10 days after the filing of a joint petition, or no
later than 10 days after the service of a petition filed by only one party,
unless an extension has been granted by the General Counsel.
4) Any party desiring oral argument shall
request oral argument in writing prior to or at the time of the filing of its
brief. The General Counsel shall determine whether oral argument is warranted
by the particular issues involved. Oral argument shall be held no later than 7
days after the filing of the briefs.
5) The General Counsel shall issue a
declaratory ruling no later than 45 days after receipt of the parties' briefs.
Declaratory rulings shall not be appealable.
6) The parties shall continue to have a duty
to bargain in good faith during the pendency of a declaratory ruling petition.
The pendency of a declaratory ruling petition shall not stay mediation or
interest arbitration proceedings required under the Act.
