A Photo Finish!

NLRB Declares Photo Eds, Lead Photo Eds Part of IAPE Unit

New Members Vote 33 to 0 to Join Union

364 long days after filing a petition at the National Labor Relations Board, Photo Editors and Lead Photo Editors working for The Wall Street Journal have finally been certified as IAPE-represented employees.

NLRB Region 02 agents confirmed results of an employee vote this morning at the Board’s Manhattan offices, following the counting of mail-in ballots. 33 out of 40 eligible employees voted to join IAPE. There were no ballots delivered opposing union representation. Two ballots were ruled “ineligible” by the Board.

“Today was a great day!” said IAPE President Jodi Green, outside the NLRB offices following the ballot count.

Today’s bargaining unit certification is the culmination of a years-long effort by Photo Editors and IAPE representatives. Dating back to 2017, the union had repeatedly tried to convince Dow Jones that Photo Editor employees should not be considered management, but rather union-eligible employees like their newsroom colleagues.

Frustrated by the company’s refusal to recognize their union-eligible status, employees finally turned to the NLRB for assistance last year. After a union card-signing campaign led by IAPE Organizer Marissa Dadiw, Photo Editors and Lead Photo Editors filed a petition for a representation election on Sept. 9, 2022.

“It feels amazing!” Dadiw said. “It definitely got emotional toward the end.”

An NLRB hearing investigating the union eligibility of Photo Editors was held over multiple days in November of last year. On Aug. 1, Region 02 Director John D. Doyle Jr. issued a decision granting union eligibility to Photo Editors and Lead Photo Editors, and ordering a mail-ballot representation election.

During that hearing, IAPE was represented by Adam Bellotti from the Washington, DC firm of Bredhoff & Kaiser. Dow Jones was represented by lawyers from Cozen O’Connor, an employment firm based in Philadelphia.

In one final, desperate act of defiance—and perhaps a final opportunity to ring up billable hours—a Cozen associate attempted to challenge multiple Photo Editor ballots during today’s vote count, but all complaints were dismissed. For no apparent reason, the company’s representative refused to sign the final certification document following the count.

IAPE will now seek an immediate agreement with Dow Jones to place Photo Editors and Lead Photo Editors into the existing bargaining unit, so they may be covered by a collective agreement. That contract is currently under negotiation by the union and Dow Jones management.