In an election that lasted from Feb. 11 to March 3, UC administrative professionals overwhelmingly voted against having union representation through the University Professional and Technical Employees, a union that currently represents UC researchers, technical and health care workers.

Over 5,000 programmers, analysts and administrative assistants voted against UPTE representation, while about 2,000 were in favor.

Around 30 percent of administrative professionals initially petitioned the California Public Employment Relations Board for a union vote last year.

PERB sent mail ballot information during the elections period to over 12,000 campus and hospital administrative professionals. Administrative professionals consist of the largest group of non-unionized UC employees.

“I think that not enough people understood the benefits of a union, and I think that UCSD has little experience of unions,” said Carolan Buckmaster, vice president of San Diego’s UPTE chapter. “A lot of administrative professionals work in offices not close to technical employees and don’t work beside UPTE-represented employees.”

Administrative professionals throughout the UC system were involved in promoting both sides of the issue.

For systems administrator Andy Davies, who works with UCSD Auxiliary & Plant Services, though the result of the election also came as a surprise, the surprise was a good one. One reason why he is against exclusive representation by UPTE is that there is less flexibility to work with management, which could also mean prolonging conflicts.

“I was pleased with the outcome of the vote, though even I was surprised by the large margin of defeat,” Davies said. “If such representation had been approved, these professionals would no longer have the flexibility to work directly with their manager or supervisor.”

For some who helped with the “Vote Yes for UPTE” campaign, the results of the vote were also a surprise. According to program analyst Dean Conde, union representation would have provided a voice for administrative professionals.

“My reaction was initially really shocked, and kind of disappointed,” Conde said. “I saw the potential benefits of having a union when it came to negotiating for our jobs … the union would have represented our voice at the bargaining table.”

Others also agreed that union representation would create more complexities for the employees.

“Union representation could potentially hinder rather than advance our careers,” said Alexis Raymond, who is a senior writer at the UC Davis Development Office and who created a flyer for the “Vote No” Web site. “It would present another layer of bureaucratic hoops to jump through to get promoted or reclassified.”

According to library assistant Bill Pfendeer, the results mean that he and his colleagues would not be able to benefit from pay raises. Pfendeer also stated that one of the reasons that many of his colleagues voted against unionization could include misleading information.

“Personally, I’m very disappointed, and I had hoped to see a raise in pay, as it would affect my monthly retirement income,” Pfendeer said. “Three times during the quest for [administrative professionals’] unionization I found the university administrators spreading half-truths, making misleading statements and telling outright lies.”

Some agreed that the lack of information about the UPTE could have contributed to the wide margin of votes against union representation.

“I think that it was just not getting enough information out,” Conde said. “There was that Web site against it, and there was a lot of negativity. I think people believe what they see and read it as the gospel, and people don’t have a lot of time to look up information for themselves.”

Some say the recent conflict with the striking grocery workers could have also affected how employees voted.

“When UC staffers saw the length of time unionized grocery workers were locked out and not receiving regular pay and benefits, I believe many UC administrative professionals were able to project themselves into that situation and did not feel ready to make the kind of sacrifice that an extended labor dispute may entail down the line,” Davies said.

However, supporters of UPTE representation have argued that the recent budget cuts are reason enough to become unionized.

“Especially in this time of a tight budget, having a union is very important so we can help to talk to management about necessary and unnecessary layoffs,” Buckmaster said.

According to Davies, one issue with UPTE included having differing jobs put together under one union.

“Many different job classifications were lumped together by UPTE in their petition for exclusive representation,” Davies said. “The sheer diversity of the jobs meant that many individuals with very different job responsibilities and needs were being put together under one proposed bargaining unit.”

According to Buckmaster, UPTE will continue to assist those who supported them and work on issues that affect all UC employees.

“We’re going to continue to work on issues such as pay and especially layoffs in important programs such as student outreach, and will continue to work especially with people who voted for us and those we consider as supporters,” Buckmaster said. “I think once people understand the benefits of being in a union, they will want to be part of it.”