Minorities underrepresented in state governor work force

Minorities are underrepresented in state government's work force, a report by the Illinois Association of Minorities in Government contends.

And most minorities who do have state jobs are clustered in a handful of agencies that often serve low-income residents, according to the study, which was compiled from data released by the U.S. Census Bureau, the Illinois Department of Central Management Services, the Secretary of State's Index Department and other resources.

"It shows that in the State of Illinois, we have a problem," says Jerrie Blakely, interim executive director of the association, which advocates on behalf of minority workers in the public sector.

A spokeswoman from the Illinois Department of Central Management Services contends, however, that state government has made "good strides" in increasing the number of minority workers.

"We want to continue to work to make sure that the population of employees is reflective of the population at large," says Susan Hofer, spokeswoman for CMS, the state's personnel agency.

The Association of Minorities in Government gathers the employment data annually and shares it with its 1,400 members. It also distributes the information to state administrators and the General Assembly.

In 2006, the latest full year where figures are available, minorities comprised about 27 percent of the 70,513 state employees, the report states. While 20 percent of state employees were African-American - a figure higher than the 15 percent of the state's population - only 5 percent were Hispanic, compared with 15 percent of Illinoisans.

The study examined 91 state agencies, boards, commissions and employees of the General Assembly.

One-third of the 19,463 minority employees worked at the Department of Human Services, which provides help for low-income Illinoisans or other at-risk populations.

About 12 percent worked in Corrections, 8 percent in Children and Family Services and 4 percent for the Department of Transportation. Three percent work for the Secretary of State's office, which is headed by Jesse White, an African-American who is the only minority statewide constitutional officer. Those five agencies employ 62 percent of state government's minority workers, the study shows.

"The agencies where there is a larger number of minorities provide direct service to minorities," the report's executive summary states.

Hofer says, however, that those figures aren't surprising.

"The vast majority of state employees work in those agencies. Those are by far the largest agencies in state government," she says.

Because those entities provide direct services to Illinoisans, the administration of Gov. Rod Blagojevich has tried to ensure that they represent the state's ethnic diversity, she says.

Although the report doesn't indicate it, Blakely says figures also reveal salary disparities between minority and white workers. Minorities also tend to be concentrated in positions covered by union bargaining units, which usually pay less than non-union management jobs.

Hofer says, however, that 84 percent of all state employees are in bargaining units. If the state Labor Relations Board approves pending petitions, she says, that number will climb to about 90 percent.

The latest report does indicate some bright spots for minority state employees. Overall state employment decreased by 4.7 percent from 2006 to 2005, but the number of minority workers fell by only 3 percent. Minority representation stayed within the 27 percent range in each of the past three years.

And although the percentage of Hispanic state workers falls far short of the statewide number -- 5 percent compared with 15 percent -- the study does note that "there has been a substantial growth in Hispanic/Bilingual speaking employees."

However, only 10 state agencies met the 35 percent minority goal, the study states.

Not noted in the report is what Blakely sees as an increasingly hostile environment toward minority state government workers.

"If they've hired more minorities right now in some of the state agencies, it wouldn't necessarily change the environment or individuals' hearts. If they are prejudiced starting out, and our members are placed under them or around them," Blakely says, "it just makes a bad environment to have to work in. Uncomfortable."

Blakely says she hopes that diversity training, along with the information revealed in the study, can help change "attitudes and perceptions of minority workers."

"I think a lot of times, things happen because of people just not communicating with each other," she says.

"Information is powerful."

Dana Heupel can be reached at (217) 788-1518 or dana.heupel@sj-r.com.

STATE GOVERNMENT'S LARGEST MINORITY EMPLOYERS

Here are the top five state entities that employ minorities, in terms of the number of workers in 2006:

Entity Total staff Minority staff Percent

Human Services 14,949 6,611 44.2%

Corrections 13,797 2,422 17.6%

DCFS 3,269 1,589 48.6%

IDOT 5,886 750 12.7%

Secretary of State 3,964 716 18.1%

Source: Illinois Association of Minorities in Government