The Telephone is Ringing

Is that my union on the phone?

IAPE members, if your phone rings tomorrow night and you don’t recognize the number, do us a favor:

Answer the phone.

IAPE stewards and volunteer phone bankers will be working through lists of member phone numbers again on Wednesday, looking for feedback on all things IAPE including your thoughts on 2027 Dow Jones contract negotiations.

Think of this as a companion to the IAPE contract survey we sent out in September. This is your opportunity to elaborate on your survey responses and to share any suggestions for items you would like to see in a new collective bargaining agreement.

Will the call display identify an incoming call as coming from IAPE Local 1096? OMG, no. We don’t have the budget for that.

Will the person calling you keep you on the phone longer than you would like? Also no. We have 1,200 members to call! We’ll stay on the line to hear all your comments and concerns – but if you need to run, we do too!

So, please, tomorrow night, if your phone rings and you don’t recognize the number, answer the phone.

(And if you’re interested in joining future phone bank fun or learning more about becoming an IAPE steward, let us know!)

Open Enrollment: Imagine All the People
If you have already received confirmation of your 2027 health insurance plan election, and you still received an “Action Required” email today from The Benefits Center, you’re not alone.

IAPE has received management confirmation that, “The Benefits Center did not send the right email to the right people. They sent the email to all the people.”

Imagine.

Members and non-members alike have been sharing information in Dow Jones and IAPE Slack channels alternating between “if you have a confirmation number, you’re good” and “maybe you should go through the election process again, just in case.”

A Benefits official has confirmed to IAPE that The Benefits Center is working on “a remediation” they hope will be finalized very soon. For now, department staff are answering questions as they come in via Slack, Sofi, email and Chat, and will continue to do so until an approved plan of action is executed.

Open enrollment deadline for U.S. employees is still Nov. 18. Stay tuned . . .