Vote as you wish, but make sure you vote.

That's the message the university is sending to all employees in the Administrative and Professional Unit with respect to the representation election now taking place throughout the UC system. The voting began Feb. 11 and will continue through March 3.

The state Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) is conducting the election to determine whether UC employees in certain administrative titles, who are not confidential or supervisory employees, wish to be represented exclusively in matters relating to their wages, hours and conditions of employment by the University Professional and Technical Employees union (UPTE).

The vote will affect about 1,100 employees at UC Davis and 12,000 campus and hospital administrative professionals throughout the UC system. This new unit would be statewide, inclusive of all UC campuses. Currently, the Personnel Policies for Staff Members cover these employees.

"This is an important decision and it ought to be made after careful consideration of all the relevant facts," said Terri De La Mora, an analyst in UC Davis' Employee and Labor Relations unit. "UC Davis fully supports the rights of our employees to form, join and participate in union activities -- or decide not to."

A simple majority of voting employees will decide the outcome of the election. So, if only 100 of the 12,000 eligible employees vote, then 51 employees will decide whether all 12,000 employees will be unionized.

Beginning Feb. 11, ballots were mailed to employees' home addresses. The university has also posted election notices in workplaces to explain ballot choices. To vote, employees simply complete the ballot and return it in the envelope provided. To count as a vote, ballots must be received by the PERB in Sacramento by 3 p.m., March 3.

"It's critical that each and every eligible employee vote," De La Mora said. "This is the only way employees can influence a decision that will affect everyone in the unit."

PERB has said votes will be tabulated March 4; results will be announced soon thereafter.

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For more information...

• Davis Campus Employee and Labor Relations hotline -- 754-7727
• Campus Collective Bargaining Unit -- http://www.hr.ucdavis.edu/Employee_and_Labor_Relations/
• California Public Employment Relations Board -- http://www.perb.ca.gov
• UC Office of the President -- http://atyourservice.ucop.edu
• The University Professional and Technical Employees Union (UPTE) -- www.upte.org
• For a list of Job titles in the Administrative and Professional Unit, see http://atyourservice.ucop.edu/apelection.html.