Session 14: Union Gains Victory With Fitness Benefit

IAPE members will continue to have access to the fitness reimbursement benefit and won’t be forced to use the Virgin Pulse program, company representatives told the bargaining committee at Tuesday’s session.

We’re pleased the company heard us when we told them about your concerns about Virgin Pulse’s potential impact on members of color, gay men, women, disabled employees—and anyone concerned about privacy.  

We hope it’s the first of several instances where members speak, and the company listens.

Among other important wins, Dow Jones pulled back on its proposals to diminish seniority rights by making merit the first criterion in layoffs and for mandatory self assessments and goal setting in annual performance reviews. 

As we told you last week, we are still awaiting the company’s response to our wage proposal and we will have further discussion on health care to reach the union’s objective of clear limits on each portion of cost sharing in an easy-to-understand table that is included in our contract. 

We’ve had some productive conversations with the company on benefits and will continue to fight for caps on increases that won’t erode pay increases.  

We are committed to reaching a deal on a quality contract that offers our members real protections and will need your help to be successful. Soon, we’ll be sharing some simple ways for you to show your support as we continue our work at the table. We are also in the process of ordering t-shirts (as well as some other swag) for all members. Request a t-shirt size & color ahead of time to help us finalize our counts. And finally, make sure to grab a mug from your location representative if you haven’t yet received one!