Layoffs at Dow Jones

The union has been informed by Dow Jones management that the company intends to eliminate a number of positions today via layoff. At this time, the total number of jobs, working locations and departments of affected employees is unknown. This does appear to be a global effort, with employees outside the United States also receiving invitations to layoff meetings.

IAPE will keep all members apprised of further developments. As formal layoff notices are delivered to the union, the IAPE website layoff page will be updated. IAPE does not expect to receive formal notices from management until the end of the day.

Under the terms of the collective agreement between IAPE and Dow Jones, employees affected by layoff must receive at least 30 days’ advance notice of the company’s intention to eliminate their positions. Similar notice must also be delivered to the union. Layoffs of IAPE-represented employees require payment of severance, extended medical benefits and other post-termination benefits, all guaranteed and protected by the IAPE contract.

Dow Jones is also obligated to follow the rule of seniority when eliminating positions via layoff. Seniority protection is determined by an employee’s hire date, relative to others with the same job title, working in the same department and assigned to the same location. Definition of “department” has caused problems for IAPE in the past.

The union will provide more details as they become available. If you have received an invitation to a meeting to discuss “organizational changes” and you have questions about your status, please contact the IAPE office.

Raises to be Paid Jan. 26

IAPE-represented employees at Dow Jones received a tiny piece of welcome news yesterday: the 0.5% pay increases effective Jan. 1, negotiated by IAPE last year, will be processed and paid with Jan. 26 pay deposits.

Salary adjustments will be paid retroactive to Jan. 1.

Under the terms of the 2022-23 collective agreement between IAPE and Dow Jones, these raises are “applicable only to employees who receive(d) the 4% compensatory increase” paid in September of last year.

As a reminder, there are three forms of mandatory pay raises referenced in the IAPE/DJ contract: the “compensatory” (or negotiated percentage) increase, scale increases for employees paid according to our introductory pay scales, and the minimum dollar increase paid to any employee whose gross salary was less than $52,000 per year as of June 30, 2022.

Only those employees who received the 4% adjustment when raises were issued in September are eligible for this additional pay hike this month.

Learn to be a Steward!
As anyone who has been or needed a union steward knows, volunteer stewards are the backbone of any union. We’re always on the lookout for members willing to join our steward ranks. If you would like to learn more about what being an IAPE steward entails, and if you have a few minutes to spare Wednesday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. EST, please join us for our next edition of IAPE Steward 101.

To register, please visit the IAPE Events page.

If you are interested in more intensive steward instruction, our international union, The NewsGuild, has plenty of information to share. TNG is hosting a six-part training series for stewards, beginning this week. Whether you’re a first-time union volunteer or a veteran IAPE activist, these sessions are great opportunities to sharpen your skills and also to meet fellow Guild members from across our union.

Details and registration information are as follows:

Jan. 11. 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. EST - Module 1: Steward Basics
Review the roles stewards play in our union and the best practices for having effective organizing conversations. Register for Module 1 Here

Jan. 25, 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. EST - Module 2: A Workplace Organizer
Discuss how stewards maintain effective organizing structures and assess power in their workplace. Register for Module 2 Here

Feb. 8, 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. EST - Module 3: A Communicator and Educator
Learn how stewards drive the exchange of information and uphold an organizing culture throughout their union. Register for Module 3 Here

Feb. 22, 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. EST - Module 4: A Problem Solver
Discuss how stewards turn workplace issues into organizing issues, then practice planning and evaluating collective action. Register for Module 4 Here

Mar. 8, 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. EST - Module 5: A Union Representative
Build confidence in asserting your rights and contract, then role-play through Weingarten and grievance meetings. Register for Module 5 Here

Mar. 22, 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. EDT - Module 6: Anti-Harassment Workshop
We'll discuss the impact harassment has on our ability to build power, best practices for upholding an anti-harassment culture across our union, and the resources available to leaders and members. Register for Module 6 Here

IAPE Condemns Actions by Phoenix Police

WSJ reporter handcuffed, detained for doing his job

IAPE TNG-CWA Local 1096 strongly condemns actions taken by officers of the Phoenix police department on Nov. 23, 2022 when Dion Rabouin, a reporter from The Wall Street Journal and IAPE member, was handcuffed and detained outside a local bank.

In a Dec. 7 letter to the interim chief of the Phoenix police department, WSJ Editor in Chief Matt Murray called the police response, “an attempt to interfere with Mr. Rabouin’s constitutional right to engage in journalism” and conduct “offensive to civil liberties.”

We agree. No member of the media should be faced with intimidation when doing their job. IAPE supports The Journal in its call for the Phoenix police department to ensure journalists are never subjected to this sort of conduct again.

Happy Holidays!

The officers, directors and staff of IAPE TNG-CWA Local 1096 would like to wish all our members a safe and happy holiday season!

The union office will be closed on Monday, Dec. 26 and Monday, Jan. 2 in observance of the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. We also plan on checking out a little early tomorrow, Dec. 23 and on Friday, Dec. 30.

Under the terms of the collective agreement between IAPE and Dow Jones, Dec. 26 and Jan. 2 will also be considered holidays for IAPE-represented Dow Jones staff in the United States, as “the days celebrated by the United States federal government” for the contract holidays Christmas and New Year’s Day.

Our contract contains similar language for members in Canada. IAPE-represented staff in that country will be out of the office for Christmas and Boxing Day holidays on Dec. 23 and 26. The New Year’s Day holiday will also be recognized on Jan. 2.

Whichever side of the border you’re celebrating your holidays, we hope you’re able to enjoy some well-deserved time off with loved ones. However, if you’re required to work please remember to file for your Holiday Pay!

The collective agreement between IAPE and Dow Jones requires 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 contract gives IAPE-represented employees the discretion to choose additional pay over an additional day off for all holidays worked after July 3 in any calendar year. If you are assigned to work on Monday—or, in Canada, on Monday and/or Tuesday—and you want 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, please contact the IAPE office.

If you are required to work on Dec. 25 or Jan. 1, you are not entitled to Holiday Pay. Due to the “days celebrated by” contract language, noted above, both dates are simply considered Sundays for payroll purposes. However, if Sunday is not a regularly scheduled work day for you and you are called to work on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day, you are entitled to comp time or—if you are an overtime-eligible employee—overtime. See our comp time and overtime advisories for details on claiming your extra compensation.

Tomorrow: IAPE 101

IAPE newcomers, 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 tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. EST, please join us for the next installment of IAPE 101 and see if we can answer your questions.

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; visit the IAPE Events Page and register today!

Management Monitoring Badge Swipes

In-Person Attendance Under Review at 1211 AOA

IAPE members in News departments have reported to the union that Wall Street Journal management is monitoring ID badge swipes to track attendance at the company’s 1211 Avenue of the Americas location in New York.

Multiple members have been summoned to meetings with Kate Ortega to discuss their attendance. Ortega has reportedly also met with various bureau chiefs for the purpose of informing managers which employees have not been meeting the three-day-per-week in-office threshold.

The union has contacted representatives of the Dow Jones Legal department for confirmation and an explanation for these one-on-one meetings. The company has confirmed receipt of IAPE’s emailed questions, but has not provided any response.

The company’s latest actions are contrary to the message expressed by management during return to office discussions earlier this year, when management pledged to be flexible with requirements for in-office work. Dow Jones representatives specifically noted that work performed “in the field” by Reporters would be counted as equivalent to in-office work.

During a town hall meeting in May, Matt Murray and Karen Pensiero assured staffers that managers would not be tracking attendance by “keeping a clipboard.”

Responding to a submitted question, Pensiero said, “someone else had asked whether or how this is going to be policed and tracked. Card swipes, attendance sheets, I don't know. That's not the newsroom that I work in.”

It seems that may have changed.

IAPE will continue to press Dow Jones for explanations and whether it intends to monitor employee attendance in other departments or locations. In the meantime, if you feel you have been unfairly summoned to a meeting to discuss your in-office attendance, please let us know.

CDC and NYC Mask Recommendations

Whether you’re attending holiday events at the office or with family and friends, this season can bring you into contact with many people. Unfortunately, it is also a time of high exposure to illnesses such as Covid, RSV and the flu.

IAPE believes it is important for our members to be aware of the numbers, so that you can make choices to protect yourselves and others around you.

CDC’s Covid-19 Community Levels have again reached “high” in New York City’s five boroughs, as well as in New York and New Jersey’s Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Bergen and Passaic counties. At this alert level, the CDC recommends “high-quality (e.g., N95)” masks or respirators, and advises people who are high risk to “consider avoiding non-essential indoor activities in public where you could be exposed.”

The New York City Health Department also issued its own advisory last week urging “high-quality” (KN95, KF94 or N95) masks indoors and in crowded outdoor settings due to high levels of Covid-19, flu, and RSV. Additionally, the department recommends that people get vaccinated for Covid-19 and flu, using the bivalent Covid vaccine booster when eligible. The city also advises testing for Covid before and after gatherings, to wear a mask around those who are at risk, and to stay home if you are sick.

We know this data is out in the world, but we feel it’s particularly important to note—a significant number of IAPE members are themselves immunocompromised or otherwise at risk for serious illness or complications from Covid, or they live with or care for at-risk people.

While Dow Jones policy requires employees to stay home if they feel ill, we are also reaching out to ask you to consider wearing a mask in the office not just for your own protection, but as an act of care for your colleagues and their loved ones during this holiday season. After all, no one wants to miss out on Aunt Jodi’s famous eggnog for a third year.

Support our Striking Siblings

IAPE’s NewsGuild siblings at The New York Times are taking strike action and walking off the job for 24 hours on Thursday. Here's why. Our parent union, The NewsGuild, is organizing a Solidarity Rally and inviting Guild folks across the country to gather on Zoom for a half-hour to join and meet the New York Times Strikers and get an update from the picket line. It’s time to show the Guild at its best—supporting each other!

If you have a few minutes to spare tomorrow afternoon, please join us:

New York Times Solidarity Rally
Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022 - 2:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. EST
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://zoom.us/j/94845238764?pwd=dXFDUG92cm4wallPMVlwWDFHbGhWdz09
Meeting ID: 948 4523 8764
Passcode: 419411

If you’re in Manhattan, and you just happen to be near the New York Times building tomorrow at 1:00 p.m., you’re cordially invited to gather at 620 8th Avenue for an in-person rally. Members are encouraged to wear red to support Guild strikers. See the following graphic for details (and please continue to scroll for news about TNG members on strike in Pittsburgh).

Announcing Pittsburgh Strike Santa
The NewsGuild is proud to announce a holiday season initiative that they have launched to support the striking workers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the first NewsGuild workers to go out on indefinite strike in 21 years.

Fellow union members and community supporters can show solidarity with the Pittsburgh strikers by participating in Strike Santa, a Guild-coordinated gift registry where striking workers can submit requests for holiday gifts for themselves and their families, and their adoring supporters can purchase them!

Please visit www.zola.com/registry/pittstrikesanta to see the range of gifts already requested. More will be added as members decide what they’d like to request.

If you are able, join us in participating by purchasing a gift!

IAPE Files Vision Plan Grievance

IAPE has filed a grievance against Dow Jones claiming the company has violated the collective agreement by planning to provide more generous vision plan benefits to non-union employees in 2023.

On Oct. 25, in an email to all employees, Chief People Officer Diane DeSevo announced vision plan benefit enhancements for next year, with an increase to $150 in coverage for new eyeglass frames. “IAPE members will retain the same Vision program from 2022,” Ms. DeSevo said.

The 2022 plan provides only $110 in coverage for frames.

Responding to an inquiry from the union, company officials confirmed the vision plan enhancement will only apply to non-union personnel. The company justified its position by pointing to the new contract negotiated in August, and ratified by IAPE members on Sept. 9, and the agreement between Dow Jones and IAPE to keep healthcare premium rates unchanged for 2023.

The new vision plan would require a price hike from $1.40 to $1.72 per pay period for employee-only coverage. Employee-plus-spouse coverage would increase from $2.81 to $3.85 per pay period, employee-plus-child(ren) from $4.21 to $5.18 and employee-plus-family from $5.92 to $6.91.

The union, on the other hand, believes Article XII of the contract is quite clear: “Except as expressly provided by this Agreement, the plans applicable to bargaining unit Employees will be the same plans applicable to non-union corporate employees of the Company generally in the US or Canada.” The contract also requires the company to provide sixty days’ advance notice wherever possible when material changes to benefits are considered. Dow Jones failed to provide any notice to the union in this instance.

The union filing will be presented on Thursday at the next meeting of the joint IAPE and Dow Jones Grievance Committee. The company will have an opportunity to respond to union claims, and reply to IAPE information requests, at that time.

Vacation Time: Use it or . . . Sell it?
It’s the last month of the year, which means members in many departments are scrambling to use remaining vacation days before they expire on Dec. 31. As Article IX of the contract reminds us, “Vacation time may not be carried forward into a new calendar year unless required by local law or as provided in the Company’s published vacation policy or employee handbook.”

The Dow Jones Employee Handbook states, “Generally, vacation carryover is not permitted. However, extraordinary business circumstances may prevent you from using all your vacation days before the end of the year. In this case, you may carry over vacation time, up to a maximum of five (5) days, into the next calendar year with your immediate manager and People Team Business Partner or Generalist’s advanced written approval. Carryover vacation must be taken by March 31st of the following year.”

And, of course, members in California may save vacation time from year to year, subject to the contract’s “California Cap” of up to 175% of any annual allotment of time.

But did you know that, for some of you, there’s an option to sell unused vacation time? Article IX also states, “An Employee who is entitled to at least three weeks of vacation and whose compensation is $1,250 per week or less will be granted one week's pay in lieu of one week's vacation at the request of the Employee.”

So, if you’re paid $65,000 or less per year and you have vacation time you’re not able to use, think about selling it back to the company. Contact your HR representative to request the sale of your time. It’s your money!

New York Times Strike Solidarity
IAPE’s NewsGuild siblings at The New York Times are taking strike action and walking off the job for 24 hours on Thursday. Here's why. Our parent union, The NewsGuild, is organizing a Solidarity Rally and inviting Guild folks across the country to gather on Zoom for a half-hour to join and meet the NYT Strikers and get an update from the picket line. It’s time to show the Guild at its best—supporting each other!

If you have a few minutes to spare on Thursday afternoon, please join us:

New York Times Solidarity Rally
Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022 - 2:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. EST
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://zoom.us/j/94845238764?pwd=dXFDUG92cm4wallPMVlwWDFHbGhWdz09
Meeting ID: 948 4523 8764
Passcode: 419411

Contract 101 - It’s Your Money!

If you have a half-hour to spare tomorrow afternoon, join us at 2:00 p.m. EST for the next presentation of IAPE Contract 101. 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 (like weekend coverage!).

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

Fitness Reimbursement Deadline Tomorrow
Don’t forget: the deadline for IAPE-represented employees to submit physical fitness expenses for 2022 is 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.  Worth noting, home gym equipment is not eligible for reimbursement.

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.

Beginning in 2023, the annual reimbursement limit increases to $700.

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.

UPDATE:

Dependent Care Expenses Deadline
Nov. 30 is also the deadline to submit 2022 expenses for our back-up childcare or elder care benefits.

The back-up care program reimburses up to $700 annually for qualified expenses when a regular care provider is unavailable. These expenses must be necessary for an employee (and their spouse, if applicable) to work on the day when their regular care provider is not available.

All full-time and regular part-time Dow Jones employees are eligible to participate in the back-up care program.

Expenses must be submitted by Nov. 30 to be applied to the current year annual maximum. Any submissions received after Nov. 30 are not guaranteed to be processed towards the current year annual maximum and may be applied towards the following year annual maximum.