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what's on my mind

What's the issue? Find out and vote

BY LUBBE LEVIN

In a systemwide election that begins Feb. 11 and ends March 3, some 3,000 UCLA employees will decide whether or not to be exclusively represented by a union — the University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE), affiliated with the Communication Workers of America (CWA). If approved by a majority of those voting, this new bargaining unit will include more than 12,000 administrative professionals across the UC system.

The university neither encourages nor discourages unionization during this vote. It simply respects the right of employees to decide the issue for themselves.

Because this vote will have far-reaching consequences for employees, the university is encouraging them, regardless of whether they personally favor or oppose unionization, to participate in determining the outcome. A simple majority of employees who vote will determine the election result for all 12,000 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 to others. In fact, in every UC systemwide unit election, the question of whether to unionize was decided by less than a majority of eligible employees. That is why it is so important that all eligible employees cast their vote.

If UPTE is elected, the union will get exclusive authority to deal with UC regarding salaries, hours of work and other employment conditions for the unit. Em-ployees should know they will also be required to pay monthly union dues or “fair share” fees, whether or not they are union members. Therefore, it is critical that they be aware of the facts and vote.

The union and UC have agreed on the job titles that will be included in the bargaining unit (see www.chr.ucla.edu/elect_title_2.pdf). In general, employees designated as managers, supervisors and/or confidential would not be eligible to vote. However, all employees who receive ballots in the mail should vote, even if they believe they should be excluded. In some cases, the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), which oversees the election, may need to make the final determination on who will be excluded from the unit. If employees believe they are eligible to vote but did not receive a ballot, they will be able to request one from PERB.

The ballot will ask employees to vote one of two choices: “No Representation” or “UPTE-CWA.” In addition, hospital em-ployees will be asked whether they prefer to form a separate collective bargaining unit if the vote favors representation.

For more information, go to the UCLA Campus Human Resources Web site: www.chr.ucla.edu/decideforyourself.htm, or to the UC Office of the President election Web site: http://atyourservice.ucop.edu/apelection.html.

Information is also available at two other Web sites, although UC neither guarantees the validity of what’s presented nor endorses the views expressed. The UPTE-CWA election Web site is at www.voteyesforupte.org. An employee-initiated site on the UPTE/CWA vote is at http://nounion.infopop.cc. This site was created by a UC employee who believes employees should vote against unionization.

Levin is the assistant vice chancellor for UCLA Campus Human Resources.