April 12, 2007
DJ Vacation Changes
Dow Jones has announced an accelerated vacation schedule, two extra personal days, an additional holiday and unrestricted sick days FOR NON-UNION employees. The company has indicated they will now discuss the same terms with the union as part of an overall contract settlement.
Where did the company come up with this fine idea? They say they "conducted extensive research around best practices" to come up with the plan. Maybe. Or maybe they just read IAPE's original contract proposal, which asked for almost the exact same thing.
The company originally told us those enhancements were out of the question. Apparently they're not out of the question any longer. That's good news.
To be sure, more time off is valuable (that's why we first proposed it) —but another 8 days off will not offset a tripling of health care costs, a doubling — and in some cases — a quadrupling — of drug co-pays, an end to cost of living protection and wage hikes of 2.5%, 2.75% and 2.75%. That's what the company wants you to accept. We say there's a lot more to discuss.
There's a lot of work to be done in reaching a contract agreement and we expect the enhanced time-off package to be a part of the bargaining discussions. But the bottom line is still the same: real increases in wages, affordable health care expenses, cost of living protection and stronger job security.
It's encouraging that the company is responding to the solidarity you've shown in standing up for a Quality Contract. There's no way this would have happened without the coffee breaks, the CNBC boycott, organizing Harborside, the yellow pins and mugs, and the countless things all of you do that tells the company we demand a square deal.
As we've seen with the company's latest moves, the quality of the contract we eventually win depends on the actions we take away from bargaining table. There will be more for everyone to do in coming weeks to keep the company moving toward our direction. Stay tuned.
Steve Yount
President
Jim Browning
Bargaining Committee Chair
IAPE CWA 1096