July 15, 2007
IAPE and Ownership Associates
We wanted to offer an update on IAPE's dealings with Ownership Associates and the work that company has been doing in the search for an alternative to the $5 billion News Corp bid for Dow Jones & Company.
Why are we doing this?
The IAPE search for alternatives to the News Corp bid is the result of the IAPE Board of Directors making it clear in an extended executive session at its meeting in May that IAPE needed to not only oppose the News Corp bid but also become an active player in the effort to encourage alternatives.
IAPE exists solely to serve its membership — the employees of Dow Jones & Company. As we've put it so often in the past two years, IAPE is here to win you more money, better benefits, stronger job protections and improved working conditions.
It is the sense of the Board, representing every location and job classification represented by IAPE, that we stand a better chance of full filling that mission if Dow Jones remains an independent company. Currently, management and labor share a common — and exclusive — focus on Dow Jones, free of the distraction from other businesses or other corporate agendas. Your efforts are, in effect, Dow Jones. In effect, the entire universe. If the company were to be absorbed by a multi-national conglomerate the difference you make individually — and the difference Dow Jones would make collectively — would be greatly diluted. IAPE's power to win you more money, better benefits, stronger job protections and improved working conditions would be diminished.
How much are we paying Ownership Associates?
The efforts being made by Ownership Associates in assembling an alternative to the News Corp bid are costing IAPE nothing. The Newspaper Guild has a retainer agreement with Ownership Associates and the work Ownership Associates has been doing for IAPE is covered by that Newspaper Guild retainer.
Just as the CWA covered the significant cost of an IAPE ad in the New York Times January 2nd and the Newspaper Guild has pledged thousands of dollars to reimburse IAPE for mobilization expenses related to the current contract bargaining — along with expertise and support in bargaining talks and legal expenses tied to grievance and arbitration battles — the services of Ownership Associates are covered by the dues IAPE members pay to the parent union. Our efforts to find alternatives to the News Corp bid — and the work being done by Ownership Associates — will cost IAPE members nothing more than we currently pay in dues.
What about the conversations with potential investors?
As has been reported in the media, we've talked to a number of possible investors. Unfortunately, we haven't found any billionaires willing to match — or exceed — the $5 billion bid from News Corp. What we have found is a number of people who have expressed a serious interest in working with the Bancroft Family so that the Family can continue its stewardship of Dow Jones, maintaining this company's independence and preserving the unquestioned integrity of all of our products.
Each of those would-be investors have made it clear that they are willing to put serious money on the table if the Family signals it wants to pursue an alternative.
Members of the Bancroft Family have expressed a desire to hear more on those alternatives — and those discussions continue. We hope they result in a decision to maintain the independence of Dow Jones and continue the Bancroft Family stewardship.
What sacrifices will be expected from IAPE members?
There should be no mistake about IAPE's purpose. IAPE exists to protect the interests of the membership — it is not here to enrich the multi-millionaires who might like to invest in Dow Jones.
IAPE hasn't made any agreement on any concessions to any would-be investors — and won't.
Any speculation involving an ESOP (employee stock ownership plan) is premature. The website of Ownership Associates touts its expertise in ESOPs, but ESOPs are not the focus of the current effort. The focus of this effort is simply to work with the Bancroft Family to maintain the Family's stewardship of Dow Jones — not to replace it with "outside" ownership or employee ownership.
To the extent that the Bancroft Family expresses an interest in an ESOP, IAPE is willing to discuss the options — with the clear understanding that IAPE has a responsibility to protect the interests of your family and the integrity of your retirement investments.
No matter what alternative investment plan might arise, any union contributions, concessions or investment would be submitted to the membership for debate and ratification.
As always, if you have any questions about Your Union, feel free to drop me a line, give me a call or pull me aside the next time you see me in hall.
Steve Yount
President
IAPE CWA 1096
Other News: Chris Bancroft Moves To Block Sale