Contract Trivia: When can Negotiations Begin?

Also, scroll below to tell us how you feel about your retirement savings!

Congratulations to Barron’s staffer Nicholas Jasinski, this week’s winner of our 2023 trivia contest and a $50 prize. Nicholas was one of several IAPE members who knew the daily non-weekend, non-holiday standby pay rate for overtime-exempt employees is $51 (see Article III – Job Classification and Wages, Section I.2).

Today marks 120 days until June 30, 2023, the expiration date for the IAPE/DJ contract. While it would be wonderful if we could sit down with the company and begin negotiations for a new agreement now, the contract actually defines when we can expect to begin bargaining. So, this week, we’d like to know:

How many days prior to the expiration of the contract can the union or the company institute negotiations to renew, modify or extend the agreement?

Think you know the answer? Email union@iape1096.org and let us know. Not sure? Scroll through our contract posted on the IAPE website to find the relevant section. Members in good standing* will have one week to find the answer within the current collective agreement between IAPE and Dow Jones, and email that answer back to us. Next Friday, one winner will be selected at random from all the correct responses, and that winning member will receive a $50 prize from IAPE.

IAPE Contract Survey: Retirement Savings
Since negotiations are set to begin later this year, we are continuing to compile survey responses from IAPE members. This week, we would love you to tell us how you feel about your retirement savings. You can find a link to today’s survey in your email.

The retirement savings plan has remained relatively unchanged since IAPE and Dow Jones reached agreement on its current format in 2010, except for the addition of a Roth post-tax contribution option in recent years. If there is something you would like to see changed in the current plan, please let us know!

Note to members in Canada: today’s survey is specific to employees participating in the 401(k) program in the United States. If you have questions, concerns or suggestions for your Registered Retirement Savings Plan, please send us a note.

We are still compiling responses to last week’s survey on Dow Jones performance evaluations. Watch your email next week for those results.

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*The IAPE contract trivia question is a weekly contest for members of the IAPE/DJ bargaining unit in the United States and Canada, working under the terms of the collective agreement between Dow Jones & Company Inc. and the Independent Association of Publishers’ Employees (IAPE) TNG/CWA Local 1096, AFL-CIO,CLC, in effect from July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023. IAPE officers, IAPE directors, IAPE staff, fee-paying non-members and non-members in right-to-work states (or new employees not yet paying dues to IAPE) are not eligible for prizes. Contest period lasts through 11:59 PM Eastern Time each Thursday. On Friday, one winner will be selected from the previous week’s correct answers by a random drawing. Winners are limited to one gift card prize every thirty days.

IAPE Settles Vision Plan Grievance

Don’t Buy Those Glasses Until April!

A grievance filed by IAPE in December has been settled, resulting in a vision plan benefits increase starting in April for union-represented employees. Dow Jones will hold a new open enrollment this month so members can re-register for its vision plan, providing an additional $40 allowance for eyeglass frames.

Plan premiums will increase slightly per pay period:

• From $1.40 to $1.72 for employee-only coverage

• From $2.81 to $3.85 for employee-plus-spouse coverage

• From $4.21 to $5.18 for employee-plus-child(ren) coverage

• From $5.92 to $6.91 for family coverage

During grievance discussions, Dow Jones insisted it would not be able to migrate IAPE-represented employees into the more-generous vision plan until April 1. Despite IAPE’s urging, the company refuses to reimburse IAPE-represented employees who have purchased glasses already this year and only received the $110 allowance for frames. In order to take full advantage of the frames increase, the union recommends waiting until April, when the new plan takes effect, before making any purchases you may be considering now.

Prior to open enrollment for 2023 health insurance benefits, Dow Jones CPO Dianne DeSevo announced an increase in annual eyeglass frames coverage for non-union staff from $110 to $150. “IAPE members will retain the same Vision program from 2022,” Ms. DeSevo said.

IAPE’s grievance stated, “By restricting IAPE-represented employees from participation in the new plan, and by failing to notify the Union of changes to the Vision Plan, the company has violated the collective bargaining agreement.”

The company argued that offering enhanced vision coverage to IAPE-represented staff also would have violated the 2022-23 agreement to preserve 2022 benefits without any change in premium rates. The union noted that the company failed to even notify IAPE negotiators of the new 2023 plan during contract negotiations last year.

Wednesday in New York: Contract 101

Tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 p.m. EST join IAPE representatives for a Contract 101 primer covering the collective bargaining process. We’ll explain how contract negotiations occur and what IAPE expects to face when our bargaining team meets with Dow Jones later this year.

Members in New York, we’re excited to offer this class live and in-person! Meet us in the Yankees conference room on the 5th floor of 1211 AOA (F05.AG45). For those in New York and elsewhere not able to meet in the building, you can still attend via Google Meet. Please register on the IAPE Events page to receive your meeting link.

New York members, IAPE reps will also be available in the building throughout the day to answer any questions you might have. Watch your email tomorrow morning for location details.

As always, if you have questions about the bargaining process, or other work-related matters, feel free to email the union at union@iape1096.org.

IAPE Contract Survey: Performance Evaluations
If you haven’t had a chance to respond to our survey about Dow Jones performance evaluations, please see our survey link in your email to tell us about your experiences with the annual review process, and what management should know about its ratings system.

Have You Had a Pay Review Lately?
The Dow Jones fiscal year ends in June, which means that for the next few months management will be focusing on budget preparations for next year.

What does this mean for you? Well, it might be worth making your pay part of their budget considerations.

March to June is the period when IAPE receives the most pay review requests. Our pay reviews pull data directly from Dow Jones payroll reports to show how you stack up in comparison to colleagues with similar titles, DOBs, hire dates, locations, departments, and managers.

IAPE members receive contractual raises, but in a year when we are set to negotiate the contract, these raises will be pushed off until the conclusion of negotiations.

Despite the contract negotiations, IAPE members always have the option to request a merit-based pay increase from their manager. Having numbers directly from the Dow Jones payroll reports, and a list of ways you have met or exceeded goals can go a long way.

If you’re interested in a pay review, email us at payreview@iape1096.org.

Contract Trivia – We Pitched a Shutout

We have no trivia winner to congratulate this week. Our question last Friday, how many specific holidays are recognized by the IAPE/DJ contract, produced several responses. The majority of members found our nine holidays in the United States, but forgot about additional days for members in Canada. Two responses were close, but not quite right.

For the record, the collective agreement recognizes 18 specific holidays. Three on both sides of the border (New Years’ Day, Labor [or Labour] Day and Christmas Day), six additional days for members in the U.S. (Martin Luther King Jr. Day, President’s Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day and Thanksgiving—in November), six days for all members in Canada (Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Truth and Reconciliation Day, Thanksgiving—in October—and Boxing Day), two days for members in Ontario (Family Day and Civic Day) and St. Jean Baptiste for members in Quebec. (See Article VIII-A and VIII-B for full details.)

Better luck this week! Here’s our next question:

Stand-by pay applies to IAPE-represented Employees who are required to immediately respond to calls on a 24-hour basis, except for newsroom Employees whose duties to report and write breaking news stories may require them to respond to news events whenever they occur. What is the daily, non-weekend/holiday stand-by pay rate for overtime exempt employees?

Think you know the answer? Email union@iape1096.org and let us know. Not sure? Scroll through our contract posted on the IAPE website to find the answer. Members in good standing* will have one week to find the answer within the current collective agreement between IAPE and Dow Jones, and email that answer back to us. Next Friday, one winner will be selected at random from all the correct responses, and that winning member will receive a $50 gift card from IAPE.

Next Wednesday: IAPE in New York
IAPE members at 1211 AOA, your friendly union representatives will be back in the building on Mar. 1 to answer any workplace or union questions you might have. And we’ll have swag! If you’re working in the office next Wednesday, keep an eye on your email for notice of our location. If you have time to take a break at 2:00 p.m., please join us for an in-person edition of Contract 101 (again, location TBA). Members outside of New York can join remotely. Please register here.

Contract Survey: Evaluations
We have received plenty of great short-answer feedback within our latest survey on Dow Jones performance evaluations—and the yes/no responses are interesting, too. This survey will remain open until next Thursday. You can find a link to this survey in your email.

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*The IAPE contract trivia question is a weekly contest for members of the IAPE/DJ bargaining unit in the United States and Canada, working under the terms of the collective agreement between Dow Jones & Company Inc. and the Independent Association of Publishers’ Employees (IAPE) TNG/CWA Local 1096, AFL-CIO,CLC, in effect from July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023. IAPE officers, IAPE directors, IAPE staff, fee-paying non-members and non-members in right-to-work states (or new employees not yet paying dues to IAPE) are not eligible for prizes. Contest period lasts through 11:59 PM Eastern Time each Thursday. On Friday, one winner will be selected from the previous week’s correct answers by a random drawing. Winners are limited to one gift card prize every thirty days.

IAPE Contract Survey – Performance Evaluations

With the 2022-23 contract set to expire on June 30, and negotiations beginning in just a few months, we are continuing to compile survey responses from IAPE members. This week, we are seeking your input on questions about performance evaluations at Dow Jones. You can find a link to today’s survey in your email.

The performance evaluation process has been a frequent discussion topic during contract negotiations between IAPE and Dow Jones, with management proposing mandatory self-evaluations during 2019 contract talks. For IAPE-represented employees, providing goals or assessments of one’s own performance is always optional, as we have noted several times in the past.

Please take just a few minutes to answer our evaluation questions, and be sure to tell us what Dow Jones should know about its performance evaluation process.

ICYMI: Survey Results
IAPE members have spoken! Here’s how you responded to other contract surveys conducted this year:

• Health care coverage

• Wages and hours

• 30 contract issues

IAPE Contract Trivia

Read your contract and win a prize!

See below for healthcare survey results!

Our first trick question of the year! Congratulations to San Francisco member Marc Hawthorne, this week’s winner of our 2023 trivia contest and a $50 prize. Marc’s entry was chosen from just a handful of correct responses to last week’s question: the maximum number of weeks’ worth of severance the company is required to pay when a position is eliminated is 56—that’s a total of 52 weeks’ wages for IAPE-represented employees with at least 24 years of continuous service, plus an additional four weeks’ pay in the event a position is eliminated due to outsourcing (see Article VII -- Severance Pay, Section A.2).

Monday is a holiday for IAPE-represented employees, President’s Day here in the United States and Family Day for our members working in the Canadian province of Ontario. We’re sure everyone is looking forward to the long weekend—unless you have been assigned a work shift on Monday. (If you have, file for your Holiday Pay!)

Thinking about holidays, this week we want to know:

How many specific holidays are recognized by the IAPE/DJ contract?

Think you know the answer? Email union@iape1096.org and let us know. Not sure? Scroll through our contract posted on the IAPE website to find the answer. Members in good standing* will have one week to find the answer within the current collective agreement between IAPE and Dow Jones, and email that answer back to us. Next Friday, one winner will be selected at random from all the correct responses, and that winning member will receive a $50 gift card from IAPE.

Health Care Survey Results
Thanks to all who completed last week’s survey on Dow Jones health care coverage. The responses have been compiled and answers are similar to those from surveys in previous contract years: POS II is still the most popular coverage option, selected by 67.8% of respondents. Uncovered costs, network of providers and plan premiums are still the top three factors for members when selecting health care coverage. And the IAPE fitness reimbursement benefit is still the overwhelming choice—by 90.1% of members—compared to the Virgin Pulse data collection and fitness plan offered to non-union staff at Dow Jones.

Responses to new questions concerning dental and vision coverage were illuminating. 93.5% of members responding to last week’s survey purchase Dow Jones dental coverage and 83.4% opt in to vision benefits. Members are mostly satisfied with dental coverage—57.8%—but only 46.3% of respondents are happy with the company vision plan.

We’ll take a break from surveying over this long weekend, but will be back with new questions over the next few weeks.

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*The IAPE contract trivia question is a weekly contest for members of the IAPE/DJ bargaining unit in the United States and Canada, working under the terms of the collective agreement between Dow Jones & Company Inc. and the Independent Association of Publishers’ Employees (IAPE) TNG/CWA Local 1096, AFL-CIO,CLC, in effect from July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023. IAPE officers, IAPE directors, IAPE staff, fee-paying non-members and non-members in right-to-work states (or new employees not yet paying dues to IAPE) are not eligible for prizes. Contest period lasts through 11:59 PM Eastern Time each Thursday. On Friday, one winner will be selected from the previous week’s correct answers by a random drawing. Winners are limited to one gift card prize every thirty days.

Survey Results: IAPE Members on Wages and Hours

63.8% of IAPE members responding to a new survey about wages and hours believe 2023 pay raises should meet or exceed the current rate of inflation. 15.7% of respondents say a 4% raise would be an equitable annual, minimum percentage pay increase in 2023, while 13.2% of members say a 5% raise would be fair this year.

Comparing Dow Jones salary to other media companies, only 1.7% of respondents think they are paid more than peers elsewhere. 49% were not sure, but 38.1% believe they are paid less for comparable work.

Highlighting areas of concern for IAPE, 18% of overtime-eligible employees answered that they either do not file for overtime when extra work is assigned, or that their bosses say “we’re not allowed to file for overtime.”

When overtime-eligible employees are assigned work outside regular working hours, overtime pay must be paid. Similarly, 6% of overtime-exempt employees said they weren’t aware they could file for comp time when extra work is assigned on scheduled days off—another contractual requirement.

Union representatives are currently reviewing responses to a questionnaire about health care coverage. Members are encouraged to submit a response to that survey before Friday. (See your email for a survey link.)

IAPE Contract Trivia

Read your contract and win a prize!

Congratulations to remote member Chandan Jamalgad, the latest winner of our 2023 trivia contest and a $50 prize. Chandan’s entry was chosen at random from several correct responses to last week’s question: when management chooses to temporarily change a work schedule (days of work or start time by more than one hour) for any IAPE-represented employee (except when a change is necessary due to certain urgent situations), management must provide at least seven days’ advance notice (see Article III – Job Classification and Wages, Section H).

Thanks to everyone who responded to last week’s question.

With this morning’s unfortunate news following yesterday’s News Corp. earnings call, delivery of the trivia question for this week is a little behind schedule. While nobody ever wants to see layoffs at Dow Jones, it is somewhat reassuring to know that the collective agreement between IAPE and Dow Jones contains provisions explaining how layoffs should occur, as well as how employees should be compensated when positions are eliminated.

With that in mind, here is this week’s trivia question:

Payment of severance is required whenever management chooses to eliminate positions via layoff, including when jobs are outsourced or automated, or when employees refuse to relocate after a position has been transferred. What is the maximum number of weeks’ worth of severance the company is required to pay when a position is eliminated?

Think you know the answer? Email union@iape1096.org and let us know. Not sure? Scroll through our contract posted on the IAPE website to find the answer. Members in good standing* will have one week to find the answer within the current collective agreement between IAPE and Dow Jones, and email that answer back to us. Next Friday, one winner will be selected at random from all the correct responses, and that winning member will receive a $50 gift card from IAPE.

Survey Results
Results from last week’s Wages & Hours survey will not be available until Monday. If you have not yet had an opportunity to submit your feedback on wages, IAPE will hold that survey open for a few additional days. Please also take a few moments to weigh in on the union survey about health care coverage. (See your email for links to both surveys.)

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*The IAPE contract trivia question is a weekly contest for members of the IAPE/DJ bargaining unit in the United States and Canada, working under the terms of the collective agreement between Dow Jones & Company Inc. and the Independent Association of Publishers’ Employees (IAPE) TNG/CWA Local 1096, AFL-CIO,CLC, in effect from July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023. IAPE officers, IAPE directors, IAPE staff, fee-paying non-members and non-members in right-to-work states (or new employees not yet paying dues to IAPE) are not eligible for prizes. Contest period lasts through 11:59 PM Eastern Time each Thursday. On Friday, one winner will be selected from the previous week’s correct answers by a random drawing. Winners are limited to one gift card prize every thirty days.

News Corp. Plans More Layoffs

Does that mean us, too?

Yesterday, during the News Corp. second quarter report for fiscal year 2023, CEO Robert Thomson announced plans to slash 5% of our workforce, some 1,250 positions.

“The 5% reduction will be across all businesses and it will be conducted in coming months with a view to concluding this calendar year,” Mr. Thomson said during the earnings call.

IAPE has asked Dow Jones whether cuts announced on Jan. 11 constitute our contribution to News Corp.’s layoff plans, or whether staff should be expecting more layoffs in 2023. The initial response from Dow Jones representatives is that the company has no additional information to share.

So, how will this affect IAPE members, especially as we prepare to start negotiations on a new contract?

Here’s what we know: News Corp. companies have already conducted layoffs this year. On Jan. 31, HarperCollins announced plans to cut staff by 5% before June 30, the end of the fiscal year. Thirty days ago, Dow Jones eliminated between 1% and 2% of global positions with layoffs of its own. These cuts affected 22 union-represented employees, totaling 75 positions once non-union jobs were included.

When layoffs occur, the company is required to provide the union and affected employees with at least 30 days’ advance notice. Recent IAPE surveys indicate there is some misunderstanding about that requirement: the layoff notice period began on the date Dow Jones announced layoffs last month.

Union-represented staff impacted by that decision have remained on payroll, all without a requirement to continue working. The effective separation date for the January layoffs is today. Severance sums required by the IAPE/Dow Jones contract will be paid to all on Feb. 23, while negotiated, post-termination healthcare coverage will begin on Mar. 1.

There were a small number of irregularities that affected notification, classification and severance pay associated with those layoffs. These were discovered by IAPE during the standard investigation conducted by the union whenever Dow Jones announces position eliminations. Those issues have now been resolved to the satisfaction of the union.

If News Corp. and Dow Jones choose to reduce headcount again this year, IAPE will ensure that all contractual protections are followed. If you have questions or concerns about the possibility of layoffs at Dow Jones, please contact the IAPE office.

IAPE Contract Survey – Health Care

With the 2022-23 contract set to expire on June 30, and negotiations beginning in just a few months, we need to hear from IAPE members. Responses to surveys we have conducted this year have been incredibly helpful. This week, we would like your input on questions about health care coverage offerings at Dow Jones. You can find a link to today’s survey in your email. Note that this health care survey is slightly more detailed than earlier contract questionnaires, with five sections to complete before submitting your answers. Thanks in advance for taking the time to respond!

If you have not yet responded to last week’s survey on wages and hours, you have until the end of the day to provide your feedback. We’ll publish those results with tomorrow’s weekly trivia contest email (and if you haven’t answered this week’s contract trivia question, we are still accepting emails until 11:59 p.m. EST).