Candidate Post: Why the Union is Important—Stephen Nakrosis

To the members of IAPE 1096:

I’m asking for your vote as union president. I want to take this opportunity to introduce myself to those who don’t know me and discuss how I see the role of the union president.

Before arriving at Dow Jones a quarter century ago, I had worked as a professional journalist for eight years. My first job was with a weekly newspaper in Bergen County, New Jersey, and I eventually became the managing editor of my hometown newspaper in Kearny for three years.

I went overseas in 1993 to help establish an English-language newspaper in the newly independent Baltic States. On my return to America, I was hired by Dow Jones in 1995 and began my career with the company working on the Dow Jones Emerging Markets newswire.

When I started with the company, our Harborside office wasn’t covered under the union contract. It wasn’t until 2008 that the site’s workforce became unionized, thanks to the hard work and dedication of IAPE’s members. At the time, I joined as a steward. In the years since I’ve served our union in many capacities. I was a member of the executive committee, union secretary and a member of several committees, including head of the finance committee. I was twice a representative to our union’s national convention and represented IAPE at other, regional meetings as well as in contract talks.

In 2017, I stepped away from the board to concentrate on my PhD studies, but was still able to serve as chairman of the election committee on four occasions.

During my time with the union, I participated in scores of meetings with dozens of members and their managers. I have seen first-hand the importance of our union and our contract protections.

I participated in meetings where a member, who had been targeted by a manager, was chided for using a colon instead of a semi-colon in a story. I have seen members unjustly attacked by their managers and treated unfairly because of personal differences. There have even been times when I was at a meeting in which a worker was let go from Dow Jones.

In each of these cases, the union was there to support the worker. We were able to arrange for some workers to be transferred. In other cases, the union helped to negotiate a severance package so our member could leave the company with money and insurance coverage. We defended the rights of those workers who were released, even after they were let go by the company.

Why am I running? I’ve been with Dow Jones for 25 years and I’ve seen many changes, both good and bad. I’ve seen the good our union can do. I’ve seen how IAPE has made life better for the Dow Jones worker. I’ve seen what we can accomplish when we work together.

I realize the union president is not the boss of the union. Rather, the role of president is to be of service to the union and to its members. When you elect a president, you are choosing someone who will work for you to represent your interests to the company and to the community at large.

The president of the union works for you. If I am elected president of IAPE, I promise to continue working to serve the interests of our membership as I’ve done for the past 12 years.

Feel free to contact me with questions or comments at votesteveiape@gmail.com.