September 9, 2007
Bargaining Thoughts From the IAPE VP
(The following is a note IAPE vice-president Tom Lauricella sent to colleagues in the newsroom, offering his thoughts on the "final offer" made September 4th by the company. In Tom's original note he included a wage/premium calculator that included a formula for projecting the effect of inflation on wages and premiums. A similar inflation calculator is now being added to the wage/premium calculator now on the website.)
Folks,
At the risk of adding another item to everyone's inbox, I felt it was important to send around a quick note with my personal feelings about the company's "final offer." I'm also including another version of a calculator that shows the impact the company's proposals would have on our wallets. This one factors in inflation — a crucial variable in determining whether we come out ahead or behind or somewhere in between. Feel free to send this around to your colleagues.
The bottom line is that the company's offer, while far better than their previous on the record proposal, is still unacceptable to me. On the surface the 3% raises sound nice, but not once you do the math. The combination of higher premiums and inflation will mean that many, many of us will be taking home a smaller paycheck at the end of this contract. I know I will. (Pay close attention to the line in the calculator showing your real annual raise — it ain't 3%!) Making this even worse is that the company wants us to accept a gutting of the cost of living protections that we currently have in our contract.
In addition, the company wants us to accept a two-tier retirement system for the money purchase plan that will make it harder for new employees to save for retirement. This ought to be an embarrassment to Dow Jones. Many of us spend our time advising others on how to best save for retirement — what kind of example is Dow Jones setting?
The irony is that the difference between what would be a (grudingly) acceptable contract and the company's proposal would amount to a rounding error on NewsCorp's balance sheet. Murdoch says he's going to invest in Dow Jones — well, here's an easy way to start. In the meantime, I see no reason to take a pay cut.
I urge you to take a few minutes and look carefully at the proposals and play with the calculator. Talk to your colleagues. The next bargaining session is Wednesday. If you have any thoughts please send a note to bargaining chair Jim Browning.
Thanks and stay in touch,
Tom Lauricella
IAPE Vice President