Dear UCLA Administrative Professional:

An important election has been scheduled. You and other administrative professionals within the University of California will be voting to determine whether or not you wish to be exclusively represented by a union --- the University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE), which is affiliated with the Communication Workers of America (CWA). This new bargaining unit would include more than 12,000 employees across the UC system.

The Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), which will be overseeing this election, has set the election for February 11 through March 3, 2004.

Importance of Your Vote
The University neither encourages nor discourages unionization. The University respects the right of employees to decide for themselves.

Whether you personally are against or in favor of unionization, your vote is very important and the University encourages your participation. A simple majority of employees who vote will decide the outcome of this election for all employees in the unit, whether or not they vote. In previous UC elections, large numbers of eligible employees did not vote, leaving the decision-making up to others. In fact, in every UC systemwide unit election, the question whether to unionize was decided by less than a majority of eligible employees. Your vote is important.

If UPTE is elected, the union will have exclusive authority to deal with UC regarding your salary, hours of work, and other conditions of employment. You will also be required to pay monthly union dues or "fair share" fees, whether or not you are a union member. Therefore, it is critical that you educate yourself about the facts of unionization and exercise your right to vote.

Eligibility to Vote
The union and the University have agreed on the job titles that will be included in this bargaining unit (see http://www.chr.ucla.edu/elect_title_2.pdf). In general, employees designated as Managers, Supervisors, and/or Confidential would not be eligible to vote in this election. However, if you receive a ballot, please be sure to vote, even if you believe you should be excluded under one of these designations. In some cases, final determination of whether an Administrative Professional will be excluded from the unit may be made by PERB after all of the ballots are submitted.

The Voting Process
PERB will send a confidential ballot to your home starting February 11. You will be asked to return the ballot by mail no later than March 3. If you do not receive a ballot and believe that you should be included in the election, you will have the opportunity to request a ballot from PERB. The ballot you receive will ask you to vote one of two choices: One choice will be "No Representation" - this means you do not want unionization. The other choice will be "UPTE-CWA" - this means you do want unionization and exclusive representation by UPTE-CWA for purposes of determining your wages, hours, and working conditions through collective bargaining. In addition, Medical Center employees will be asked whether they prefer to form a separate collective bargaining unit, should the overall vote be in favor of representation.

For More Information
Please remember that you will be bound by the decisions of those who vote, whether or not you vote yourself. A simple majority of those who vote decides the outcome for ALL employees in the bargaining unit. For this reason, the University strongly encourages you to educate yourself on the issues, and above all, to cast your vote.

As the election approaches, you will be receiving additional information. For further information and for links to other sites of interest to Administrative Professionals, please go to the UCLA Campus Human Resources web-site at http://www.chr.ucla.edu/decideforyourself.htm. More information is available at:

UCOP election web site: http://atyourservice.ucop.edu/apelection.html
UC's official systemwide election web site, including a Q&A about mandatory union dues and fees, how unionization changes an employee's relationship with the university, and other facts about unionization.

Information is also available at two other web sites, but UC does not guarantee the facts presented nor endorse the views expressed on the following sites:

UPTE-CWA election web site: http://www.voteyesforupte.org/
UPTE's election web site detailing the reasons why the union believes unionization would benefit UC AP staff.

Employee-initiated web site on the UPTE/CWA union vote: http://nounion.infopop.cc/
A web site and message board created by a UC employee about why he thinks UC AP staff should vote NO in the election.

Please contact Campus Human Resources or Healthcare Human Resources if you have questions.

Sincerely,