Thanksgiving!

The officers, directors and staff of IAPE extend our very best wishes for a safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday! The IAPE office will close early today and staff will be offline tomorrow and Friday.

For IAPE-represented employees in the United States, if you are not scheduled to work tomorrow, please enjoy your holiday. But if you are required to work on Thursday, please keep the following in mind: Article VIII of the collective agreement between IAPE and Dow Jones gives you the option to claim additional pay for that work.

The IAPE/DJ agreement requires Holiday Pay at a rate of time-and-one-half for all regular hours worked on a holiday (double-time for extra hours) plus an additional day off in lieu of the holiday or an additional day’s pay.

The agreement gives IAPE-represented employees the right to choose between the additional pay or an additional day off for all holidays worked after July 3rd in any calendar year. If you are assigned to work on Thanksgiving Day and you prefer to receive extra pay instead of an additional day off, please inform your manager.

You may file for your Holiday Pay through Workday. If you have any questions about pay for working on a holiday or receiving your extra day’s pay or day off (again, your choice), please contact the IAPE office at union@iape1096.org.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Strikesgiving!
While IAPE members are working under a recently-ratified one-year contract at Dow Jones, many of our NewsGuild siblings are in the midst of difficult negotiations with their employers, and some have been forced to withhold their labor to force management to negotiate in good faith.

On Nov. 4, Guild members at Reuters voted in favor of authorizing their bargaining committee to call a strike if their employer continues bargaining in bad faith. Thus far, members continue to work as negotiations continue. Members of the Fort Worth NewsGuild are raising funds in the event they need to take strike action against the Star Telegram. And in Pittsburgh, where Guild members have been on strike since Oct. 18 protesting unfair labor practices committed by management of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the union has launched its own strike publication, Pittsburgh Union Progress.

On Monday, the IAPE Board of Directors authorized a $1,500 contribution to the Pittsburgh Striker Fund, used exclusively to assist striking Pittsburgh Post-Gazette families with special needs who are facing very difficult financial circumstances. IAPE members may donate to the fund by visiting unionprogress.com/donate, and are encouraged to subscribe to the Union Progress!

Some IAPE members have asked about the nearly two-week old strike at HarperCollins. While the HarperCollins Union is not part of the same international union as IAPE—they are a local union of the United Auto Workers—we still support our corporate colleagues as they fight for a fair contract settlement. If you’re not already following the Harper Union on Twitter, you can find a thread on tips for supporting unionized staff here.

Thanks for Supporting our Photo Editors

National Labor Relations Board hearings into IAPE’s petition to represent WSJ Photo Editors have concluded. The union and the company must submit post-hearing briefs by Dec. 2, and then we’ll wait for the NLRB to issue a ruling on whether Photo Editors can hold an election for IAPE representation.

IAPE leadership and WSJ Photo Editors would like to thank all members who joined the video stream of this week’s hearings, and we would like to send a HUGE thank you to all who took the time to send an email urging WSJ management to recognize Photo Editors as union-eligible employees. If you haven’t yet, please sign and send today. At this moment, almost 1,000 letters have been delivered!

Fitness Reimbursement Deadline Nov. 30
Yesterday’s monthly benefits newsletter from News Corp contained lots of useful information about health savings accounts, flexible spending accounts and other employee benefits, with reminders to submit expenses before annual deadlines arrive. Noticeably absent from yesterday’s email was any reminder for IAPE-represented employees to submit physical fitness expenses before Nov. 30.

As a union-represented employee, you can be reimbursed for up to $600 of the employee-only costs of physical fitness activities and memberships ranging from health club memberships and personal trainers to entry fees for road races and tennis court fees. Beginning in 2023, that annual reimbursement limit increases to $700.

Expenses must be submitted to WageWorks by Nov. 30 in order to be reimbursed by the end of the calendar year. Any expenses submitted after Nov. 30 will count toward the maximum benefit payable for 2023.

You may file for reimbursement by logging into www.wageworks.com and submitting your request or by completing a reimbursement request form, available on the HR Hub.

Let’s Talk About Comp Time
Join us on Nov. 30 for the next presentation of IAPE Contract 101, when we will explain all forms of “extra” compensation contained in our collective agreement: standby pay, shift differential, holiday pay, overtime and the form of compensation we probably receive more questions about than any other, comp time.

Comp time is payable to any employee with a title considered overtime-exempt—including Reporters, Special Writers and Senior Special Writers—when work is assigned and performed on scheduled days off.

A special shout out to US News staff assigned to occasional weekend duty: if you’re required to perform work on Saturdays or Sundays, you’re entitled to receive comp time!

See our overtime and comp time advisories on the IAPE website for details, and register to attend Contract 101 to learn more!

NLRB Hearing Tomorrow - Send a Letter to Management!

IAPE and WSJ Photo Editors return to the National Labor Relations Board tomorrow to resume hearings into the union’s petition to have Photo Editors recognized as non-management, union-represented employees. Hearings will likely continue through Thursday and will begin each day at 9:30 a.m. EST, likely ending around 5:00 p.m. EST.

Observers are welcome—if you have signed up to watch the hearing, you should have received a Google Calendar invite for all three days and you can observe via the Google Meet link in that invitation. Pop in any time each day! If you haven't signed up, you still can via this link: https://bit.ly/WSJphotoHearingObservers

Whether you’re able to join or not, you can still demonstrate your support for Photo Editors, and there’s no better way to start the week than by sending an email to WSJ Management! It only takes a few minutes (we've got the message started for you). Click here to send your email!

And finally, we would love for members to change their work and social media avatars this week to show solidarity! You can download the avatar here.

You can also follow the Photo Editors website, Twitter, and Instagram—we would love your amplification (tag @WSJ!) and your memes!

Thank you all for your support! We wouldn't be able to do this without you!

Support our Photo Editors . . . Again!

WSJ Photo Editors and IAPE representatives return to the National Labor Relations Board on Tuesday, Nov. 15. After a three-week break in proceedings, the Manhattan region of the NLRB will resume hearings into the union’s petition to represent Photo Editors and hear objections from Dow Jones management.

These hearings are open to the public, and we would again love to have as many IAPE members as possible join to support our Photo Editor colleagues. If you are able to join, even for just a couple of hours, please register through this form: https://tinyurl.com/WSJPhotoEdObserverForm. We’ll follow up and deliver meeting links as soon as they are available.

Remember also to download a Solidarity Avatar, and make it your Google profile photo in advance of the hearing. And as Photo Editors tweet and post on Instagram, please amplify their social posts—or share your own! We want to make sure everyone knows that Photo Editors are workers who should be protected by the union and that their work is necessary to the Journal!

Join us for Steward 101
With a little more than eight months remaining in our current contract term, IAPE is looking to bolster its steward ranks ahead of 2023 negotiations. Union stewards can be IAPE’s eyes and ears in a department, sharing union and workplace information with members or with IAPE’s elected representatives and staff. A steward might help organize union events and activities or participate in committee planning. Stewards even assist other members during meetings with management and Human Resources!

If you’re interested in becoming an IAPE steward, we invite you to join us Wednesday afternoon, at 2:00 p.m. EST, for our Steward 101 class. This half-hour Zoom presentation is a great way for union members to learn more about the next level of IAPE participation.

Register on the IAPE Events page. Interested in becoming a steward, but you aren’t available to attend this week’s class? Contact the IAPE office for some individual Q&A!

Scholarship Opportunities
IAPE’s parent union, the Communications Workers of America (CWA), is pleased to announce the CWA Joe Beirne Foundation has approved the awarding of 16 partial college scholarships of $4,000 each. CWA members and their spouses, children, and grandchildren, including those of retired or deceased members are eligible for the scholarship. The deadline to apply is April 30, 2023. Visit the CWA website to apply.

The Beirne scholarship program is made possible by funding from CWA locals. Read more about the program here.

IAPE members and families are also eligible to apply for Union Plus scholarships. Amounts range from $500 to $4,000. These one-time cash awards are for study beginning in the Fall of 2023. Students may reapply each year.

Open Enrollment: When Pilot Points in the Wrong Direction

It’s time for Dow Jones employees in the United States to select healthcare coverage for 2023. With three plan tiers to choose from—Choice POS II, Basic Choice and CDHP—there is plenty of information to consider. So, the “decision support tool” known as “Pilot” offered on the company’s benefits websites is a great resource to help you make the right selection.

Or is it?

Year after year, IAPE members have complained that no matter the information they enter into Pilot, the system always selects the high deductible CDHP plan as the primary option. Go ahead, try it for yourself—change your preferences, the number of times you expect to see a physician in a year, upcoming surgeries, medications you take. We’ll bet Pilot chooses the CDHP plan for you, too.

Why is this a problem? IAPE members have also complained about inadequate coverage and higher-than-expected bills after selecting the CDHP plan. Unfortunately, by the time these concerns are realized, it is usually too late to switch to a more appropriate coverage level. When you select your annual coverage, you’re locked in for the benefit year!

So, take it from us and your colleagues who have been burned by Pilot in the past. Review available plan information including physician networks, deductibles and maximum out-of-pocket payments. Don’t use an auto pilot to land on the coverage you need for 2023.

Support for Pittsburgh Strikers!
In case you missed our email invitation on Monday, all IAPE members are encouraged to attend “What’s it like to be on Strike?” a Zoom support call for striking Guild members at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

Where: on Zoom, RSVP: bit.ly/pittsburgh-on-strike

When: Thursday, Nov. 3 from 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. EDT

What does it mean to go on strike? How do you prepare to walk off the job? What do you actually do day-to-day on the picket line? Join us to hear directly from our union siblings at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, who are on an Unfair Labor Practice strike right now against one of the most notoriously anti-union publishers in the country. These workers have been denied raises for 14 years, saw their healthcare benefits slashed, and have been at the bargaining table since 2017 with no end in sight.

The Block family, which owns the Gazette, is refusing to bargain in good faith and has created a hostile work environment forcing long-time journalists to leave the company. We know they have the money—they're spending millions on a union-busting firm instead of paying their employees fair wages.

The Pittsburgh Guild’s fight is our fight, and we stand with them. Their strike represents the first prolonged strike in the NewsGuild in decades, and as media owners become more and more shamelessly aggressive in their efforts to quash workers’ rights, the PGH Guild's fight is increasingly relevant for our own units here in New York. At the end of the event, we'll take a zoom photo together to demonstrate our solidarity with the striking members of the PGH Guild.

Register to attend!

IAPE@Work: The Week in Review

Photo Editor Update
A Reply From Matt
DJ Ends Vax Policy

Photo Editor Hearing on Hold
Thanks to the dozens of members who responded to last week’s request to support WSJ Photo Editors in their quest to become IAPE-represented employees. As we mentioned in last Thursday’s email, IAPE reps and Photo Editor witnesses were scheduled to appear in a National Labor Relations Board hearing to demonstrate why WSJ Photo Editors should be included in the IAPE bargaining unit.

Unfortunately, the Labor Board granted a Dow Jones motion to delay proceedings. So, we’ll take a short break and prepare to return to the Board on Nov. 15. Keep an eye on your inbox for another invitation to attend these public hearings.

In the meantime, you can support your WSJ colleagues by amplifying social posts from Photo Editor Twitter and Instagram feeds—or post your own! Please also check out https://cwalocals.org/unionize-wsj-photo for more information about this campaign. We want to make sure everyone knows that Photo Editors are workers who should be protected by the union and that their work is necessary to the Journal!

Note for members in News who are subject to the WSJ social media policy: If you would like to support your colleagues, but you have questions about what you can or cannot post on your own social media feeds, our CWA union parents have some helpful guidelines for participating in social media campaigns.

A Reply From Matt
As we announced on Monday, 245 IAPE members signed on to a letter to WSJ Editor in Chief Matt Murray expressing concern about WSJ News plans for in-office work.

On Tuesday, IAPE received a reply:

“Thanks for the note. As you know, we’ve worked hard to find a balance and to keep the workplace strong, and to do so in a thoughtful way for all stakeholders, including our staffers. We’ll continue to take that approach moving forward.  Best, Matt”

As for the union’s request to meet with management and discuss changes, Dow Jones has informed IAPE that representatives from Legal and HR departments are happy to meet with the union, but we should not expect participation from News management.

Dow Jones to end Vaccination Policy
On Tuesday, Chief People Officer Dianne DeSevo informed staff that Dow Jones will be “lifting the vaccination requirement for all of our Dow Jones U.S. offices on Dec. 1, 2022.”

Under the terms of the new IAPE/Dow Jones contract, the company has an obligation to provide the union with at least 30 days’ advance notice of its intention to modify or eliminate the policy.

So now, we want to hear from you: does the elimination of the Covid vaccination policy sit well with you? As departments continue to require in-office work at least occasionally, are you more or less comfortable knowing Dow Jones will no longer restrict office access to vaccinated individuals only?

Contact us by emailing union@iape1096.org and let us know.

News In-Office Work: IAPE Members Speak Out

On Sept. 15, Wall Street Journal Editor in Chief Matt Murray announced changes to in-office working plans for WSJ News staff. Effective Nov. 1, employees are required to work from offices—or, for newsgathering personnel, in the field—at least three days per week.

Today, 245 IAPE members in News departments responded with a letter to Matt.

Signing on to a statement drafted by the IAPE Board of Directors, members told Matt, “We believe it essential to retain a hybrid work environment in which the decision of where to work belongs first with the employee. When employees feel empowered, morale and productivity increase.”

“A majority of IAPE-represented WSJ News staff want management to maintain the option for a hybrid working situation into the future.”

In a NewsNet post last week, Kate Ortega shared responses to office work questions raised by IAPE during a Sept. 22 meeting of the IAPE and Dow Jones Labor/Management Committee. However, the union has yet to receive a reply to a request to meet and discuss the in-office plan for WSJ News.

NLRB to Decide on WSJ Photo Editors
WSJ Photo Editors have petitioned the National Labor Relations Board to review a request to join IAPE. The NLRB has scheduled hearings to review that request, beginning tomorrow, Oct. 25 at 10:00 a.m. EDT, with a possibility of additional sessions on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.

You can read more about this filing and why Photo Editors should be represented by IAPE at https://cwalocals.org/unionize-wsj-photo.

Since June 2021, IAPE representatives have been pursuing union representation for WSJ Photo Editors. During regular meetings with  legal representatives for Dow Jones, the union has provided surveys, anecdotes, and other collected statements, showing that Photo Editor roles are non-managerial and should be included in the IAPE bargaining unit.

Photo Editors at The Journal perform similar job functions as their colleagues in union-represented positions, including research, reporting, working with freelancers, and supporting the publication of both the print and digital editions of the paper.

Photo Editors are not asking for a lot—they are simply seeking those same IAPE protections. Union representation will provide Photo Editors with a seat at the table for future negotiations, and better define the boundaries between their work and their lives.

This week’s hearing will be conducted via Zoom and is open to the public — if you would like to attend, please fill out this request form!

Contract Satisfaction Survey: The Results

On Sept. 30, IAPE members received an email invitation to participate in a contract satisfaction survey. As we noted with that delivery, while IAPE members voted to approve our new, one-year contract by a 94% margin, we realize there is a difference between voting “yes” and actually being satisfied with an agreement.

201 members responded to our survey, with responses coming from all IAPE-represented business units, as well as all experience levels, from less than one year to over twenty years of service with Dow Jones.

Today, we invite you to see the results for yourselves.

We aren’t publishing any of the short answer comments because we did not ask for permission to print your individual responses. Overall, the additional information was enlightening. Members were pleased with IAPE communications, though some felt the union should have been more clear about when off-the-record bargaining sessions were held.

We also received a few complaints that the union failed to explain negotiated pay increases equal a pay cut for a majority of members, when factoring in rates of inflation. Others noted the company’s ability to modify in-office working plans, with advance notice to employees and the union, as falling short of member priorities.

The IAPE Board of Directors would like to thank those who took a few minutes to respond to our survey. Your feedback will be incredibly helpful to IAPE representatives as we prepare for 2023 contract negotiations.

If you missed the survey, but would still like to weigh in with your comments, please email us: union@iape1096.org.

Monday a Holiday? Depends Where you Work

Dow Jones newcomers occasionally ask whether the second Monday in October is a holiday or a regular work day. The answer depends on where the employee works and often comes as a surprise.

Under the terms of the collective agreement between IAPE and Dow Jones—soon to be revised thanks to our new 2022-23 agreement—nine holidays are recognized for employees in the United States: New Year's Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, President’s Day, Juneteenth, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas, or the days celebrated by the United States federal government as such.

Indigenous Peoples Day or Columbus Day are not included as contract holidays. For IAPE-represented employees working in the U.S., Monday is a regular work day. 

Members in Canada, however, get to enjoy a day off.

The IAPE/DJ contract recognizes up to eleven holidays, depending on work location, for members working in Canadian provinces: New Year's Day, Family Day (for Ontario Employees only), Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labor Day, Truth and Reconciliation Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Boxing Day, St. Jean Baptiste (Quebec) and Civic Day (Ontario) or the days celebrated by the Canadian federal government as such.

Regardless of which side of the border you work, if you are required to perform work on a contract-recognized holiday, you’re entitled to Holiday Pay—that’s 1.5X your pay for any regular hours worked and 2X your pay for additional hours. Everyone is eligible, regardless of your job title or overtime eligibility. In addition to extra pay, employees working on contract holidays are entitled to an extra day’s pay or an extra day off. Management has the discretion to choose the extra day or extra pay for holidays before July 3 in any calendar year, while employees have discretion to choose for holidays after July 3.

So, to our members in Canada, we say Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy your long weekend! For the rest of us, “see” you at work on Monday!

This Week: Raises and Retro Pay

Pay increases and lump sum payments for eligible IAPE-represented employees will be included in pay deposits this week. 2022 pay raises approved by union members on Sept. 9, as part of the new one-year collective bargaining agreement between IAPE and Dow Jones, will also include a retroactive adjustment for all base pay and overtime earned between July 1 and Sept. 20.

Members eligible for raises will receive the largest of our 4% compensatory agreement, our $40 per week minimum-dollar raise, or a scale increase. Lump sum payments will equal 1% of annual salary calculated prior to adding 2022 raises, with a minimum of $1,000 USD.

IAPE representatives will verify all raises to ensure every eligible employee receives the proper salary adjustment. In the meantime, if you have any questions about your 2022 pay raise, please contact the union office: union@iape1096.org.

RTO: Did you Request an Exemption?
As more Dow Jones departments resume in-office work, IAPE representatives have received a concerning number of complaints about management responses to requests for exemptions, especially those made for reasons of medical necessity. Members concerned about exposure to Covid are rightfully asking IAPE reps for exemption guidance.

If you have asked for permission to continue working from home and you believe management has failed to seriously consider your request, please let us know by emailing union@iape1096.org. 

Navigating workplace accommodations and medical protections can be daunting. We recommend consulting the Job Accommodation Network (JAN), a resource provided by the United States Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy. Don't let the term “disability” dissuade you! JAN offers free information and consulting services for individuals with all types of medical conditions.

Reminder: Contract Satisfaction Survey
In case you missed it, on Friday IAPE members received an email request to weigh in one last time on the 2022-23 IAPE/DJ contract. Even though the new agreement was approved by over 94% of voting members, we recognize there is a difference between choosing to approve and actually being happy with a new contact.

With that in mind, we again invite you to participate in the 2022 IAPE Contract Satisfaction Survey. This short survey should only take a few minutes of your time, but will be incredibly helpful to IAPE representatives as we prepare for 2023 contract negotiations.

Wednesday: IAPE 101
When you were hired by Dow Jones, were you surprised to learn that you were a union-represented employee? Have you ever wondered about your rights as a union member? If you have a half-hour to spare this Wednesday, Oct. 5 at 2:00 p.m. EDT, please join us for the next installment of IAPE 101 and see if we can answer your questions. Register by visiting the IAPE Events Page.

IAPE 101 is a Zoom presentation addressing the basics of IAPE membership: What is a union? How does IAPE function? How does IAPE fit into Dow Jones? What are the benefits of union membership? All these questions and more will be covered in this class, perfect for those brand new to IAPE, or even for veteran members interested in learning more about their union. All members are welcome; register today!