Enacted by the 83rd General Assembly, the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act granted public employees and employers the right to bargain collectively. The purpose of this website is to maintain a current base of activities and decisions, and to track changes in our governing statute, for those whom we have been appointed to serve. Minutes of each panel meeting have been available online since January 2006. A link to the Illinois statutes offers you the most current, official version of the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act. The ILRB webmaster is committed to reviewing this site on a regular basis to ensure that the dates listed are accurate and the materials are timely.

The Governor appointed, and the Illinois Senate approved, the five members of the State Panel of the Illinois Labor Relations Board. Two members, one appointed by the Mayor of Chicago and the other by the Chairman of the Cook County Board, make up the Local Panel. I serve as Chairman of both panels. Each of us has years of experience and solid backgrounds in labor and management, and is well acquainted with the complex issues facing the public sector. Despite budget constraints, which have resulted in the lowest staffing levels in ILRB history, the quality of services offered by the agency has not diminished.

We hope you will visit this site often and support our efforts to fairly and equitably administer and enforce the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act.

Jackie Gallagher, Chairman


WHAT IS THE ILLINOIS LABOR RELATIONS BOARD?

The Illinois Labor Relations Board is the State agency which administers the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act, the primary law governing relations between unions and public employers. The statute guarantees the right of employees to organize and to bargain collectively with their employers or to refrain from all such activity. The Illinois Labor Relations Board is organized into two Panels, described below.

The State Panel of the Illinois Labor Relations Board has jurisdiction over collective bargaining matters between employee organizations and public employers such as the State of Illinois (excluding the General Assembly of the State of Illinois); units of local government (such as Illinois counties, municipalities and special districts) with a population not in excess of 2 million persons; and the Regional Transportation Authority. The State Panel does not have jurisdiction over educational employers or educational employees, except for firefighters and peace officers employed by a State university.

The Local Panel of the Illinois Labor Relations Board has jurisdiction over collective bargaining matters between employee organizations and units of local government with a population in excess of 2 million persons, but excluding the Regional Transportation Authority. This includes Cook County, the City of Chicago and such entities as the Chicago Transit Authority, the Chicago Housing Authority and the Chicago Park District. The Local Panel does not have jurisdiction over educational employers or educational employees.

WHAT DOES THE ILLINOIS LABOR RELATIONS BOARD DO?

The Board conducts secret-ballot elections to determine whether employees want union representation; certifies, modifies, and clarifies bargaining units; investigates and remedies unfair labor practices by public employers and unions; processes information regarding arbitration and mediation that will serve parties in resolving labor-related disputes; and conducts emergency investigations of public employee strikes and strike threats upon demand to determine whether judicial proceedings are warranted to restrain or prevent strike activity imperiling the health and safety of the public.

CAN THE ILLINOIS LABOR RELATIONS BOARD HELP YOU?

Answering the following questions will help you determine whether we may be able to assist you.

• Are you a public employee?

You must be employed by a governmental entity such as the State of Illinois, an Illinois county, an Illinois municipality or a special district for the Board to have jurisdiction.

If you are not a public employee but a private employee, please see the information provided below for guidance regarding other agencies that may be able to help you.

If you are a public employee, please be aware that there are other statutory limitations on the Board's jurisdiction. For more details, please contact one of our offices.

• Do you have a job-related question or a problem that also involves union representation in some way?

For example, do you

1) seek representation by a union?
2) seek to remove a union as your representative?
3) think that your employer or your union has threatened you or treated you
unfairly because you either support or refuse to support a union or because
you have acted on behalf of fellow employees with regard to working
conditions?

If you have answered yes to any of the above questions, the Board may be able to help you. For more details, please contact one of our offices. If your question or problem does not appear to be covered under our Act, please see the information provided below for guidance regarding other agencies that may be able to help you.

CAN ANOTHER AGENCY HELP YOU?

If you are an educational employer or employee, the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board may be able to assist you.

If you are a private (non-governmental) employer or employee with a union-related question or problem, the National Labor Relations Board may be able to assist you.

If you are a private (non-governmental) employer or employee with a question concerning wages (such as minimum wage, prevailing wage, overtime, or unpaid wage and/or vacation pay collection), child labor laws, the six day work week law, your rights to review, copy and correct personnel records, or your right to privacy in the workplace, the Illinois Department of Labor may be able to assist you.

If you are a public (governmental) employer or employee with a question concerning wages, (such as minimum wage, prevailing wage, overtime or unpaid wage collection) or the Fair Labor Standards Act, the United States Department of Labor may be able to assist you.

If you have a question or problem concerning discrimination because of age, sex, race, political affiliation, religion, national origin or physical or mental disability, the Illinois Department of Human Rights may be able to assist you.

If you have a physical, mental or developmental disability, or wish information regarding such disabilities, the Illinois Department of Human Services (formerly the Illinois Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities) may be able to assist you.

If you have a question concerning unemployment compensation, the Illinois Workers Compensation Commission may be able to assist you.

If you are a private (non-governmental) employer or employee and have questions or concerns about health or safety issues in your workplace, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration may be able to assist you.

If you are a public (governmental) employer or employee and have questions or concerns about health or safety issues in your workplace, the Illinois Department of Labor may be able to assist you.

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