Bargaining Update: A Short Meeting Before a Long Weekend

Also, Join Us For The Photo Editor Vote Count!

Dow Jones and IAPE bargaining teams met briefly Thursday morning and reviewed a new proposal document containing five proposals from the company, responses to items presented in the union’s Aug. 29 proposal.

Wages were not discussed during today’s bargaining meeting.

Dow Jones and IAPE have reached tentative agreements on shift differential—once a new contract is in effect, the new differential rate for assigned evening and night shifts will be $155 per week—and on procedures for slotting newly classified job titles within the IAPE and Dow Jones tier structure.

IAPE reps pledged to review management proposals on stand-by pay—Dow Jones continues to insist on the ability to pay stand-by amounts in half-day increments—and contract language defining advance notice of disciplinary and investigatory meetings.

Dow Jones is continuing to consider IAPE’s proposal to include weight management and nutrition counseling programs as eligible expenses under the IAPE physical fitness reimbursement benefit.

The union and the company also discussed respective job security proposals currently on the table. While the conversation was productive, no new positions were exchanged today.

With the long weekend ahead of us, IAPE and Dow Jones teams agreed to skip a bargaining session scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 5 and will meet again next Thursday, Sept. 7.

Happy Labor/Labour Day!
IAPE officers, directors and staff send very best wishes to all members for a safe and happy Labor (or Labour) Day weekend. The Union office will close early on Friday and be closed on Monday for the holiday—our favorite one of the year!—but will reopen as usual on Tuesday, Sept. 5. Members in New York and New Jersey, watch your email next week for details about joining the New York City Labor Day Parade on Saturday, Sept. 9.

Remember: if you’re scheduled to work on Monday, Article VIII of the IAPE/DJ contract requires that you receive Holiday Pay: time-and-one-half for regular hours worked, double-time for hours in excess of your regular schedule. Don’t forget to file for your pay in Workday! And remember: in addition to Holiday Pay, YOU have the option to request either an additional day’s pay OR a comp day for working on a contract holiday.

Happy Labor (Labour) Day!

Photo Editors: Counting the Days Until We Can Count Votes!
Nearly one full year after WSJ Photo Editors filed with the National Labor Relations Board to be represented by IAPE, NLRB agents will count representation election ballots on Friday, Sept. 8! All ballots will be commingled and counted at the NLRB Region 02 Office starting at 10:00 a.m. EDT.

The vote count is open to the public. IAPE members interested in attending are welcome, and should join IAPE staff and our soon-to-be-new-members outside the Board office shortly before 10:00 a.m. for group photos. Masks are strongly encouraged—IAPE (or red) t-shirts are mandatory!  :)

Please RSVP by early next week if you plan to attend!

Bargaining Update: Working on a Wage Package

Contract Extended Through October 30

IAPE and Dow Jones contract negotiations continued yesterday in Princeton. The union bargaining team delivered its sixth proposal to the company, highlighting some select issues including a new wage proposal.

IAPE reduced its proposal for a 2023 pay raise, but filled in numbers previously indicated as “TBD” for 2024 and 2025. The union’s new wage proposal: a 12% raise effective July 1, 2023, followed by 8% pay increases on both July 1, 2024 and July 1, 2025.

The company was quick to note the IAPE wage package now totals 28% over three years. IAPE representatives asked whether management would like to discuss Dow Jones’s stellar financial performance in recent years.

Management said they would respond to the union’s proposal during the next bargaining session scheduled for Thursday.

IAPE also offered new proposals on shift differential and standby pay, and responded to company proposals on minimum pay increases and pay scales, coordination of benefits, job security, performance evaluations and return-to-office issues. Discussions about advance notice of disciplinary and investigatory meetings continued toward what may become a tentative agreement.

Dow Jones representatives asked whether management should consider the union’s latest proposal to be representative of all priority issues for IAPE. The union team noted, and Dow Jones agreed, that the company owes IAPE a response to information requests about company health care costs before negotiations over benefits can continue.

IAPE representatives also pointed out that it has requested information about current company “task forces” reviewing artificial intelligence, and said that the company should consider AI matters to be a significant issue to be negotiated. The Dow Jones team reiterated its position, that the company should have complete flexibility to implement advances in AI—without contractual restrictions—wherever it deems new technology to be appropriate.

IAPE disagrees.

Tomorrow, IAPE and Dow Jones reps will meet in a virtual bargaining session, and the contract will continue to be in effect. Company and union representatives agreed at the outset of yesterday’s meeting to extend the collective agreement through Oct. 30. The first, automatic, sixty-day extension of the CBA was scheduled to expire today.

Bargaining Town Halls
All members are encouraged to join one of two IAPE virtual town hall meetings on Monday, Sept. 11. Meeting times are scheduled for 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. EDT. See your email for calendar invitations (and let us know if you have not received an invite). Members of the IAPE Bargaining Committee will be present to provide updates from the contract table.

If you have contract questions or comments between now and Sept. 11, please send those along to union@iape1096.org.

Join us for Labor Day Activities
Also watch your email for upcoming notices about Labor Day activities. IAPE is inviting members in the New York and New Jersey area to join union officers, directors, staff and Guild siblings from other area unions in walking in the New York City Labor Day Parade, scheduled for the Saturday after Labor Day, Sept. 9, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. Details about a meet-up location for IAPE members will be available soon!

Tomorrow: #TshirtTuesday

The IAPE bargaining committee will return to the contract table tomorrow to resume negotiations for a new collective agreement. During a contract meeting on Aug. 22, Dow Jones management presented its fifth proposal and continued to insist on a 3% wage increase for 2023.

Union members are encouraged to wear their favorite IAPE t-shirts tomorrow—whether you are working in a Dow Jones office, on assignment or working from home—in support of the bargaining team. We’d love to see photos of any displays of IAPE support! Send your pics to union@iape1096.org.

Election Deadline Thursday
The deadline to nominate a fellow IAPE member for any officer or director position on the IAPE Board is Thursday, Aug. 31 at 10:00 a.m. EDT. Self-nominations are also welcome! See IAPE’s Election 2023 page for complete details about Board seats and the nomination process.

Logo Contest: Get Your Entry in Soon!
IAPE’s logo contest—announced in June and extended through the end of this month—is an opportunity for members to design a fresh look for the union. If you’ve been thinking about submitting your own idea, but haven’t had time to finish your design, you still have a few days!

The final deadline for entries is Thursday, Aug. 31 at 5:00 p.m. EDT. Send your suggestion to logocontest@iape1096.org.

Bargaining Update: Deja Moo

We’ve Heard This Bull Before

Dow Jones management presented a fifth proposal document to the IAPE bargaining committee during negotiations held in Princeton on Tuesday. The company document contained a small number of updated proposals and—again—a rejection of 42 union proposals covering compensation, benefits, job security and “miscellaneous items,” including the use of artificial intelligence in company products.

Management’s wage increase offer, three percent in 2023 with raises for 2024 and 2025 to be discussed, remained unchanged.

Two tentative agreements were reached yesterday: Dow Jones accepted an IAPE proposal to require notification of a nine-month probation period for new employees in all offer letters, and the company agreed to add “gender identity and expression” as a protected characteristic within new anti-harassment language negotiated between the parties.

Dow Jones presented six changes to previous proposals: minimum scales, shift differential pay, stand-by pay, structure of seniority groups, notice of meetings and union membership for remote workers. See an IAPE explanation of those proposal changes here.

Dow Jones also withdrew a proposal to reduce the consideration period for employees eligible to volunteer for layoffs to seven days, as well as a proposal to remove any requirement to periodically provide the union with department head listings. Management said both proposals were withdrawn “to narrow the issues between” IAPE and Dow Jones.

When withdrawing the department head proposal, Dow Jones representatives suggested that IAPE “look at doing the same.” However, the union’s current proposal with regard to departments is to change how a “department” is defined in the collective agreement, to allow for greater seniority protection for employees.

Earlier in the day, IAPE delivered two requests seeking information about the makeup of company “task forces” investigating AI issues, and information about company health care costs for calendar years 2019-22, and projections for 2023-26.

On Thursday, IAPE and Dow Jones will discuss union proposals related to job classifications. Negotiations over all other issues will resume on Tuesday, Aug. 29.

Bargaining Town Halls
Keep an eye out today for two meeting invites for our next set of Town Halls on Sept. 11 at 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. EDT. Zoom capacity will be restricted to the first 300 attendees for each meeting.

#TshirtTuesday Tomorrow

IAPE members, whether you’re working from home, in an office or in the field tomorrow, we have a wardrobe suggestion for you: your favorite IAPE t-shirt.

Your IAPE bargaining committee will be back at the negotiating table again tomorrow morning and is calling for all union members to display their union support by wearing an IAPE shirt while at work. If you don’t have an IAPE tee, any red or black item will do. Remember to send your IAPE photos to union@iape1096.org.

Let’s all join together to show Dow Jones we won’t stand for substandard contract proposals from management! In case you missed last week’s news, Dow Jones was disappointed at the union’s response to its Aug. 8 proposal package. You may also have missed the company’s own negotiation update. We thought that message needed a few revisions.

Thanks for supporting your contract team!

Bargaining Update: You Think YOU’RE Disappointed . . .

Bargaining Continues on #TshirtTuesday

Contract negotiations between IAPE and Dow Jones continued today, with the union presenting a new proposal document to the company.

Management was disappointed.

They were disappointed that IAPE would insist on negotiating over advances in artificial intelligence, and how new processes might impact bargaining unit employees. “These are forms of automation,” Dow Jones representatives told the union bargaining committee. “These are core management functions.”

They were disappointed that IAPE would preserve so many of its proposals in this new document—or consider items from IAPE’s original proposal to be “important” despite management’s reluctance to engage on topics like increases to retirement plan contributions, or comp time for extraordinary hours of work, or carryover of vacation time.

They were disappointed that IAPE would reject company proposals to weaken job security “out of hand,” even though management has similarly refused union proposals to protect jobs by changing how seniority is determined.

They were disappointed IAPE had not developed a proposal addressing company plans to shift healthcare costs onto employees, even though last week’s company presentation required months of preparation by News Corp’s benefits team.

They were disappointed IAPE would indicate a willingness to accept—or “cherry pick”—Dow Jones proposals to reimburse for doula services or cover out-of-network mental health services at in-network rates, without realizing all company health insurance proposals are part of a single package.

And they were extremely disappointed that IAPE held fast on a proposal to increase wages by 15% in the first year of the contract. Because, after all, Dow Jones provided the union with a good faith, 3% offer on raises during a bargaining meeting last week.

Gosh, that’s a shame.

Perhaps management fails to realize how disappointed IAPE members were to receive that 3% offer, given recent Dow Jones performance results. Maybe they don’t realize that a 15% wage offer—as ambitious as it might seem—is not at all unrealistic when compared with other recent NewsGuild contract settlements (which the company says we shouldn’t compare ourselves to), and with an eye toward cost of living increases and recent company performance.

Maybe they don’t realize how disappointed their employees—even those not represented by IAPE—are to face the uncertainty of layoffs each day, even though Dow Jones has “doubled its profitability over the past four years.” In fact, in their recent earnings call, News Corp management repeatedly highlighted these layoffs as a cost saving measure that delivered the company $160 million in annual gross savings. If you missed the call, you can replay the webcast for yourself.

It is possible they fail to realize that Dow Jones employees are tired of being recognized with platitudes during town hall meetings, and would prefer to have a strong contract with better benefits and real wage increases.

We think management will need to get over their disappointment.

Negotiations will continue on Tuesday, Aug. 22. That’s #TshirtTuesday. If you have an IAPE tee in your closet, be sure to wear it in support of the bargaining committee, whether you are working from home, in a Dow Jones office or out in the field. If you don’t have an IAPE shirt, any black or red item will do.

As always, please send us your contract feedback. Questions, comments or concerns are always welcome at union@iape1096.org.

Negotiations Postponed

A contract negotiation meeting between IAPE and Dow Jones scheduled to begin this morning at 10:00 a.m. EDT has been postponed at the union’s request. Bargaining will resume as scheduled on Thursday, Aug. 17.

IAPE canceled today’s meeting to allow the Board of Directors more time to review a management proposal from Aug. 8 and to finalize a union counter proposal.

Last week, Dow Jones presented proposals for health insurance for employees in the United States. The company also addressed wages for the first time, proposing a three percent raise for 2023.

IAPE opened negotiations on June 13 with a proposal to increase pay by 15% in the first year of the contract. A social media blitz by IAPE members on Aug. 10 highlighted strong company performance and cost of living as reasons why IAPE members deserve significantly higher pay raises than Dow Jones has proposed.

Tell us What You Think!
Does a three percent proposal resonate with you? Have you been surprised by any of management’s contract proposals? Would you like more information about any of IAPE’s proposals? Send us your feedback! Member comments are always welcome at union@iape1096.org.

Please also use that email address if you would like to volunteer to participate in our Contract Action Team, or if you are interested in digging into IAPE proposals on key topics like compensation or artificial intelligence. All members are welcome!

Storm Conditions Still Brewing

Dow Jones reports highest profit since News Corp acquisition

AI an “opportunity to create a new stream of revenues . . . reduce costs”

Thanks to all members who participated in yesterday’s IAPE “tweetstorm” intended to call attention to subpar wage proposals from Dow Jones management prior to the release of fourth quarter and full year fiscal results from News Corp.

Thousands of posts, reposts, likes and impressions of IAPE messages flooded X yesterday afternoon and evening. The gap that exists between IAPE and Dow Jones contract proposals suggests we’ll need to highlight positive company performance repeatedly as negotiations continue.

Yesterday’s News Corp call did nothing to dispel the notion that Dow Jones can afford to pay the IAPE-represented workforce what it is worth. In a prepared statement, CEO Robert Thomson said, “Dow Jones posted its highest profitability for both the quarter and the full year since we acquired the company.”

Thomson added, “Dow Jones doubled its profitability over the past four years,” and is “nearing a landmark moment with our lucrative B2B offerings expected to be the largest contributor to profitability in Fiscal 2024 and a key driver of future growth.”

While layoffs or "cost saving measures" were occurring at Dow Jones, full year revenues for the company increased by $149 million, a 7% increase over FY22 results. Segment EBITDA for fiscal 2023 increased $61 million, a 14% increase from last year.

More concerning were Thomson’s comments about how News Corp views artificial intelligence, saying that generative AI “presents a remarkable opportunity to create a new stream of revenues, while allowing us to reduce costs across the business.” Dow Jones has refused to respond to a union proposal to protect jobs from being displaced by generative AI.

IAPE looks forward to more glowing FY23 remarks from the Dow Jones leadership team.

The Storm of the Century
Yesterday’s tweetstorm was IAPE’s most successful social media campaign ever. So far. We undoubtedly will have more opportunities to call attention to gaps between Dow Jones and IAPE contract proposals, and we look forward to all IAPE members joining in those efforts.

In the meantime, we want to recognize members of the IAPE Contract Action Team in Washington for producing yesterday’s sample posts and graphics.

Our messages were clear: wages for Dow Jones employees have lagged behind—far behind—the cost of living. Dow Jones is a very profitable company and can afford to rectify that situation.

Once News Corp’s earnings were released, the CAT team updated one of its graphics to reflect Dow Jones EBITDA. If you haven’t seen it, we think you’ll find it interesting.

If you didn’t get a chance to post or repost yesterday, there is no reason you can’t take part today. Choose from one of yesterday’s sample messages, or share IAPE messaging from the News Corp call: 

• Dow Jones doubled profitability

• Robert Thomson on AI

• Full year revenue increase

• Dow Jones segment EBITDA

• When you see it

We’ll have plenty of other ways for IAPE members to display support for union contract proposals and our Bargaining Committee. Location update meetings will continue—today for members in the Midwest region, Monday for members in Canada and Wednesday for Mid-Atlantic members. Negotiations with Dow Jones resume on Tuesday.

In the meantime, if you have any questions or comments about contract negotiations, or if you want to volunteer to participate in the CAT, please contact us at union@iape1096.org.

Bargaining Update: “You Asked For It”

Contract Gains Overshadowed by Company’s First Wage Proposal

First T-shirt Day Thursday! Spread the word!

During a contract negotiation session on Tuesday, Dow Jones presented a new document to the union containing responses to IAPE offers, proposals on certain benefits issues and—56 days after the beginning of 2023 contract talks—its first wage proposal of this round of bargaining.

“You asked for it,” Dow Jones negotiators told union reps, “now you’re going to get it.”

It wasn’t worth the wait. The proposal: a 2023 “general compensatory increase” of 3.0%.

The proposed increase in year one of the contract—the company listed years two and three as “to be negotiated”—falls short of the union’s opening demand of 15% in 2023, a proposal Dow Jones negotiators have repeatedly claimed to be at odds with reality.

“We don’t see this as a real wage proposal,” company reps told the union.

We could say the same about a company wage proposal that represents a cut in real wages.

IAPE T-shirt Day Thursday, Aug. 10

We’re sure you are disappointed with the company’s initial wage proposal, and so we are calling for IAPE members everywhere to take part in our first IAPE T-shirt day tomorrow, coinciding with the release of News Corp’s fourth-quarter and full-year earnings report after the market close. 

Grab an IAPE t-shirt—if you don’t have one, any red or black tee will do—and gather with your colleagues for a display of IAPE solidarity. If you’re working remotely on Thursday, you absolutely can still participate.

We would love to see (and share!) photos of your IAPE activity—send your favorite t-shirt shots to union@iape1096.org and we’ll let all our social media followers know we are #IAPEStrong and opposed to sub-par pay rates.

If you need an IAPE shirt for future t-shirt days—and we expect to have these often—let us know what size you wear. We’ll check our current supply and see what we can send to you.

Back to yesterday’s bargaining session…

Dow Jones also provided a comprehensive health insurance proposal calling for increases in insurance premium percentages, as well as new maximum rates in plan design for 2025 and 2026—elements including coinsurance, deductibles, prescription coverage and maximum out-of-pocket amounts. The union has agreed to keep details of those proposals confidential while negotiations continue.

The company also proposed increasing the minimum pay increase threshold from $1,000 to $1,300 per week. To do so would mean that, with a 3.0% raise, any employee currently earning less than $1,300 weekly would receive a pay hike of no less than $39 per week, or $78 per pay period. A negotiated 4.0% raise would result in a minimum weekly increase of $52; a 5.0% raise would produce a minimum weekly increase of $65, and so on.

There were some productive moments during yesterday’s session. In two very important gains for the union, Dow Jones agreed to eliminate the parental leave distinction between primary and secondary caregivers, meaning all employees would be eligible for 20 weeks of paid leave regardless of their caregiver status.

Dow Jones also agreed to a union proposal to cover out-of-network mental health providers at the same coinsurance percentages as in-network providers, subject to any Aetna differences in reasonable and customary coverage for in- and out-of-network providers (and other plan terms).

Responding to a union proposal for the addition of non-familial funeral days off, the company agreed to modify bereavement leave to provide up to five days of leave per death, applicable for the passing of any family member or friend.

Offering a counter to an IAPE proposal for coverage of doula services, management asked IAPE to consider the addition of services as a covered benefit beginning in 2025. However, since doula services are not considered “medically necessary,” reimbursement would need to be processed through Dow Jones Payroll, which would require employees to disclose the fact that they are using doula services. This reimbursement would also be taxable.

Dow Jones rejected—or continued to reject—a number of IAPE proposals, including:

• Expanding an employee’s choice to receive a day’s pay instead of an additional day off after working on a holiday to all holidays, rather than the current agreement of holidays after July 3

• The addition of a sixth week of paid vacation

• Expanding payment for unused vacation days upon termination

• Carryover of vacation time into a new calendar year for employees in all states and provinces

• Increases to 401(k) plan contributions

• Comp time for excessive work on a regular working day

• Elimination of a probation period for temporary workers retained as staff employees

Dow Jones and IAPE negotiators will resume talks on Thursday, but with a focus on job classification and pay scale proposals. IAPE expects to respond to yesterday’s Dow Jones proposal next Tuesday. Aug. 15.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, comments or complaints about the latest proposal from management, send your thoughts to union@iape1096.org.

The Perfect IAPE Candidate: You!

Have you ever considered running for election?

Every three years, IAPE holds an election for all positions on the union’s governing board. The Board of Directors is the body responsible for all IAPE matters, from setting internal policy and approving budgets, to overseeing contract negotiations.

2023 is an IAPE election year, and nominations are open for all positions until Aug. 31 at 10:00 a.m. EDT.

Any member in good standing—someone who is current in payment of membership dues as of Aug. 11—is eligible to run for one of our four officer positions: President, Vice President, Treasurer or Secretary. Members are also eligible to run for one of seven regional Location Director seats or three Classification Director positions, so long as they work within those regions or classifications.

Elections are also held for two At-Large Delegate positions—members who become eligible to join our four officers at conventions and conferences of our parent unions The NewsGuild and the Communications Workers of America. At-Large Delegates are not members of the IAPE Board.

If you are interested in running for IAPE election this year, or if you would like to nominate a colleague you think would be a perfect fit for the Board, the process is very simple: access IAPE’s online nomination form, enter your name and the name of the member you are nominating—self-nominations are perfectly fine—select an officer or director position and click the “submit” button.

The IAPE Elections Committee will verify all nominations as they are received. When members approve their nominations, names will be posted on the IAPE Election page. Elections for any contested seats will be held later this year.

If you have questions about what being an IAPE officer or director entails, please reach out to us at union@iape1096.org.

You really should consider running. We think you would be a wonderful addition to the IAPE Board!

Register For Town Hall Meetings!
It’s not too late to register for today’s contract town hall meetings. We have two times to choose: 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. EDT. We’ll have an update on where we stand with Dow Jones contract negotiations and how you can get involved to support the bargaining committee. We’ll also set aside a few minutes for contract Q&A.

Visit the IAPE Events page to register and receive your Zoom link. See you later today!