December 3, 2007
DJ Job Review
It sounds like Dow Jones is at it again: reviewing jobs to "benchmark our infrastructure services and identify any opportunities for improvement." This time the Dow Jones GTS management is working on what it calls an infrastructure Industry Assessment.
A memo went out to roughly a hundred IAPE-represented Dow Jones employees at the end of November under the signature of Dean DelVecchio. The company says it has received "mixed results" after comparing GTS-provided services against eight external suppliers. It says it'll now collect more detailed information in the Help Desk, Messaging, Network, Storage, Hosting, and Systems Management operational areas.
For the record, the Company says no final decision has been made on the fate of those positions— although a decision is expected by the end of the 1st Quarter of 2008, with any subsequent job cuts most likely taking effect around June 2008.
It might sound a lot like what folks were told in a similar review a year and a half ago— and, understandably, the first fear we heard expressed from those who received the DelVecchio memo was that those jobs "are gone." It's too early to make that judgment.
But since the outsourcing of 2006, we've negotiated some new protections in the contract: If your job is outsourced you will receive an additional one month of severance pay and a retraining allowance of $12,000— on top of the other severance benefits guaranteed in the contract.
As always, if you have any concerns or questions, contract me directly or call the IAPE office (609-275-6020) and talk to union organizer Tim Martell.
Steve Yount
President
IAPE CWA 1096