By Slim Margin, Prudential agents decide against forming a union. (Companies).

Agents from Prudential Insurance voted against representation by the Office and Professional Employees International Union--by a 63-vote margin out of almost 2,000.

The vote, which was overseen by the Newark, N.J., office of the National Labor Relations Board, recorded 881 votes against the union, 748 votes in favor, 17 void ballots received and 41 votes challenged as being ineligible, said Ed Peterson, a spokesman for the board.

The election followed a petition by the OPEIU, which represents office and professional workers throughout the United States and Canada, submitted to the board in January to represent more than 3,000 Prudential agents. The request was based in part on a communication from Prudential management reminding the agents that "they are employed at will" and that compensation and employee programs could be changed at any time, according to the OPEIU petition.

The petition also stated that the agents had been advised they could be terminated at any time without reason and without notice. After the communication to the agents, some of them contacted the OPEIU to ask about representation, the petition said.