April 23, 2007
Bargaining Update: 04.23.07
Following our strong statement last week at the Dow Jones annual meeting, and the company's efforts Friday to intimidate reporters into appearing on videos and podcasts, we were back at the bargaining table Monday April 23, trying to achieve a Quality Contract.
Unfortunately, the main thing we got from the other side was more bluster and stonewalling.
We offered fresh proposals on pay and health benefits, in response to some movement from the other side last time we met. We accepted the company's latest offers in two areas, concerning annual health checkups (an idea we had proposed) and arbitration procedures.
But instead of welcoming the progress and looking for more areas of common ground, the other side turned nasty.
In response to our comment at one point that we all should show some patience and keep looking for areas of agreement, one of their lawyers said: "I am a great believer in collective bargaining. I am a great believer in patience. But it is not happening here."
We hope that this is simply more bluster, motivated perhaps by their annoyance that we actually stood up for ourselves at the annual meeting.
We will no doubt need to stand up for ourselves again, in the future, to show how important this contract is to us.
In the meantime, keep wearing your buttons, keep filing for premium pay if you have to work on a day off, and please send us any comments or questions.
We meet again next Monday, when we will see what kind of response they offer to our latest proposals.
Steve Yount
President
Jim Browning
Bargaining Committee Chair
IAPE CWA 1096