The State Universities Civil Service Merit Board’s 5-1 vote last week to eliminate service bonus points caused a stir among university union employees and Illinois legislators.

Actions have been taken in an attempt to restore the service bonus point system, sometimes used as a deciding factor in promotional decisions.

In the past, service bonus points allowed employees to earn up to 10 points, one point per year, beginning with the second year of service. Points then could be added to test scores for promotional considerations.

As a result of the elimination, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) has filed a complaint against the merit board with the Illinois Labor Relations Board. The charges were filed because the board cannot change the system without bargaining with the unions first, according to the ILR Act, said Hank Scheff, AFSCME representative.

Jackie Kinnaman, staff attorney for AFSCME, said the merit board is a “joint employer because they have the authority to regulate rules that affect working conditions of employees, and therefore, are subject to the act and should be made to bargain.”

ichard Flournory, supervisor of employees in the NIU personnel office, said, “The merit board cannot change the rules, but can only recommend the action to the legislature.”

According to Walter Ingerski, director of the merit board, “It is within the statutory conditions to eliminate the points. The action does not have to be approved by the General Assembly.”

Scheff said if the hearing officer finds the merit board guilty, they (the board) could be fined and ordered to restore the system. The hearing is scheduled for May 11, he said.

Also, a bill to restore the service bonus point system is scheduled to be introduced to the House of Representatives Board of Higher Education Committee April 22.

ouse Representative Helen Satterwaite said the bill was “originally intended to provide flex time for employees, but an amendment will be added to the bill that will put into law what the current system was before the merit board abolished it.”

Some critics of the elimination are concerned that veteran points are not affected by this change.

Veteran points are five special points, mandated by the state, given to war veterans. These points may be added repeatedly to promotional test scores.

Satterwaite said the universities should keep the bonus points for employees so they (those who do not have veteran points) will have a chance to catch up.

Pat Hewitt, president of the Operating Staff Council at NIU, said because males usually gain more veteran points than women, “women who want to get into other areas, especially those wanting to enter those areas dominated by males, will no longer be able to compete for the jobs.”

Bob Martens, NIU’s representative on the Employee Advisory Council, said the bonus points were a mechanism to serve employees as opposed to perspective employees. By recognizing only veteran points, the merit board does a disservice to women, he said.

“I understand why they (veteran points) are used—to help those who were pulled out of the job market to reenter. But once they’re in the system, the points should no longer be used,” Hewitt said.

As long as there are veteran points, the university is giving one group an unfair advantage, Hewitt said. “They (bonus points) weren’t hurting anyone, but they were giving compensation to offset the veteran’s points,” she said.

“The university should put us all on the same level,” Hewitt said.

Clara Fitzpatrick, UMB Representative for the Board of Regents, said she made the decision to motion the elimination of the points after she heard presentations given from two universities.

“James Gloner, director of Administrative Affairs at the University of Illinois, said the university had to use methods, other than service bonus points, to get women and minorities into the system,” Fitzpatrick said.

“Why? Because the present point system allowed job entry to take place only from within the system,” she said. Currently, there is a low number of minorities and women employed at U of I, Fitzpatrick said.

“The argument given by Southern Illinois University concerned the problems inherent in the administration, particularly in the selection process,” Fitzpatrick said. “With the points, the selection process has nothing to do with the qualifications of an applicant and everything to do with the seniority.”

Fitzpatrick was the only representative to abstain last semester when the decision first was voted on because she “did not know what impact the elimination would have on the universities and did not know how the employees from each institution felt.”

Although Fitzpatrick received letters from employees against the elimination, no arguments were presented concerning the impact of the elimination, she said.

Scheff disagreed. “She is wrong. She wasn’t there when we gave testimony against the elimination of the points. None of the members were there. They just sent a secretary to take notes,” he said.

There was enough publicity and letters sent to the merit board to indicate that the majority of employees wanted to keep the points, Hewitt said.

Although the details for implementing the elimination of the bonus points has not been discussed, personnel offices will be contacted about instructions within two weeks, Ingerski said.

“What happens if an employee has worked at the university for five years and wants to use the points? What will happen to that employee? The question now is of fairness to the employees who have worked with the assumption that the points were part of the plan,” Satterwaite said.

ewitt asked what will happen to the past scores, since the university no longer recognizes seniority on testing.

Satterwaite said she wonders if part of the reason for the elimination of the points is that administrators could respond to political pressures more freely. “If an applicant from outside the university must compete against an applicant from within the university, who also has bonus points, it would be harder for an administrator to give in to political pressures to hire the applicant from outside,” Satterwaite said.