Opinion ID: 3149180
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The CBA Referral Process

Text: The Union has a longstanding CBA with the Electrical Contractors’ Association of Chicago. Freeman and GES are members of the Electrical Contractors’ Association of Chicago; MPEA is also a party to the CBA. Article IV of the CBA— entitled “Referral Procedure”—describes a regimented process for hiring Union electrical workers. Specifically, Article IV states that the Union “shall be the sole and exclusive source of referral of applicants for employment.” To do this, the Union maintains a “pool” of workers from which a given employer will be sent workers for a particular job. Within the overall pool, the Union stratifies workers into four priority groups based on their experience, certifications, and skills. The Union then selects workers within each priority group based on when the workers registered for employment. An employer may only deviate from this “pool hiring” process in two situations: to meet age quotas that the CBA mandates or when the employer “states bona fide requirements for special skills and abilities in his request for applicants.” If an employer lays off workers, it must do so in reverse order of that established by the priority group; that is, the employer must terminate workers who are lower on the priority list first.