August 2, 2007
Your $7,300 Pay Cut
Contract negotiations between IAPE and Dow Jones are at a crucial juncture and we wanted to bring you up to date.
Our goal remains unchanged: to get everyone a real pay increase after inflation and after the effect of higher medical premiums.
Since the begining of 2003, we have seen our pay decline steadily, taking into account inflation and premium increases.
After months of negotiation, the company insists that we must see our pay fall further in the next three years. We calculate that the average IAPE member would lose about $7,300 to inflation (estimated at a rate of 3% year) and premium increases from 2007 through 2010.
How do we calculate that? The average IAPE member makes $66,600 a year. The company proposes a three-year contract under which we would receive a 2.5% raise in the current year and 2.75% a year in 2008 and 2009. It is proposing a health plan that would double premiums in 2008 and raise them more gradually in 2009 and 2010.
There are other important issues as well, but the combination of health care premiums and wage increases is the central issue. As it stands now, the company proposal would mean real — and significant — declines in our income each year. That is the main obstacle to an agreement today, and it is what we need to deal with as we go forward.
As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions.
Steve Yount
President
Jim Browning
Bargaining Committee Chair
IAPE CWA 1096