IAPE Members Ratify Agreement With Dow Jones

A majority of the members of IAPE The NewsGuild-CWA Local 1096 have voted to approve a new, three-year collective agreement. 

Polls closed on Sunday at 11:59 a.m. EST and 91.2% of voting members approved the new agreement, while about 8.8% chose to reject the deal.

We had a return rate of 61.72%, with 740 of 1,199 eligible voters casting electronic ballots. The Union’s election provider, Trueballot Inc., certified the ratification results with a final count of 675 in favor and 65 opposed. 

IAPE and Dow Jones representatives will now meet to sign a Memorandum of Agreement. Terms of the new contract will take effect immediately. The new contract term is scheduled to last through June 30, 2022.

Contract 2019: Now You Decide

IAPE’s board of directors has approved a tentative agreement for a new contract that was hammered out Thursday night between Dow Jones representatives and our bargaining committee. Now the majority of our nearly 1,300 members will have to approve the deal, and we ask you to vote “yes.” 

Hundreds of members signed our open letter, displayed their “Quality News” shirts, changed their desktop and social icons, and most importantly showed up for their union by participating in breaks, meetings and other activities. Your support was crucial during negotiations and we thank you for it.

The end result of nearly five months of negotiations is a hard-fought compromise. Breaking the mold on 2% guaranteed raises and winning a bonus consideration in the out years are major achievements for IAPE. The committee is disappointed we weren’t able to push the company off of 2% for 2019, but we are pleased to have agreed on a ratification bonus that will be equitably distributed among our members. 

Dow Jones has rewarded managers when the company is performing well and now union members will also have the opportunity to see more in their paychecks when times are good. While we are not satisfied that we weren’t able to prevail in our fight to have a higher portion of our compensation package count as compounding raises, we think increases of up to 2.75% and 3% including bonus potential in the final two years of our agreement are clear victories. We will build on these wins in future rounds of negotiations. 

The company started negotiations seeking to eliminate the cost of living adjustment provision in our contract. We successfully held them back and have allowed slight adjustments to account for the bonus lump sums. Ensuring our members are earning wages that keep pace with the cost of living while working in the world’s most expensive cities will demand vigilance, and your engagement, in every contract cycle. 

Health care is another significant part of compensation and we achieved a cost freeze for next year for U.S. members. We made significant gains with job security, limiting the company’s use of temporary workers and for enhanced guarantees when work is transferred between departments or locations. The company agreed to advise members of their right to union representation prior to disciplinary meetings. And we forced the company to withdraw its proposal to end our fitness reimbursement benefit in favor of the intrusive Virgin Pulse program. 

We had to offer concessions and compromises along the way, and when pulling back on the added protections we were seeking for retirement benefits and in the event Dow Jones is sold, we assured the company it will hear from us if there are changes in these areas. We failed in our second attempt to get photo editors classified as union employees though are glad to clarify in our contract that columnists working in news should be included in the union. We will continue to hold the company to our agreement that job functions, and not titles, determine union status.

Overall, we think this represents the best deal possible before our contract extension expired on October 31. We have made important strides in a number of areas that will make a real difference for members. There is more work to be done, and IAPE is on the right path for stronger negotiations and even better contracts in the future. We plan on getting started right away and will make sure you know how you can help the union advocate for your concerns well ahead of the next bargaining cycle through our regular monthly meetings with the company.

We will be sending information on the ratification vote this week and please stay tuned for details for meetings to discuss our new agreement. An outline of our achievements are below. 

Summary of Achievements and Highlights: 

Pay/Compensation

Annual Raises

	Base Salary Increase	Minimum Weekly Salary Increase	Bonus Lump Sum*
Retro to July 1, 2019	2%	$20	$700
Effective July 1, 2020	2.25%	$22.50	0.5%
Effective July 1, 2021	2.5%	$25	0.5%

*The lump sum for 2019 represents a ratification bonus for full-time members that will be prorated for part-time employees. The lump sum in 2020 and 2021 is a target based on the company performance component of the management bonus pool. The company will provide the union with information on the how much the pool has been funded in a given year (from 0% to 200%). Funding at 100% will result in a payout of 0.5% of salary for members, at 90% it would be 0.45%, at 110% it would be .55%, etc. The total compensation in a year will be used to determine other contractual protections that ensure that IAPE members are being paid commensurate with the cost of living and receiving raises in line with non-union staff.  

Other compensation highlights:

• We negotiated restructured pay scales for reporters, IT staff and 11 other titles meaning higher minimum starting salaries and guaranteed raises for more members. We started with an ambitious proposal to reset the entire pay scale system and have every title placed in a minimum salary tier. We will continue our work in increasing pay equity and transparency at Dow Jones.

• IAPE members who receive a promotion after May 1 will now also receive the July 1 raise

• Shift differential will increase to $140 weekly from $120 upon ratification

• Stand-by pay in a regular week will increase as follows, with corresponding adjustments to daily and holiday rates. 

Stand-by Pay	OT Eligible	OT Exempt
Current	$180	$220
On Ratification	$205	$245
7/1/21	$215	$255

Health Care and Benefits 

• IAPE secured a freeze on 2020 premiums and health care plan costs for employees in the United States. For years 2021 and 2022, IAPE negotiated hard limits on premium and plan cost increases. 

• Members in Canada will continue to have premium-free basic health care options, but will see an increase in monthly premiums for comprehensive coverage of 4%.  That translates to increases between $0.53 and $1.74 for medical coverage and $0.22 to $1.32 for dental coverage.

• IAPE members will keep the $600/year fitness reimbursement benefit

Job security 

• IAPE members will no longer have to re-apply and will have the automatic right to a job when it moves between departments or locations, avoiding situations like the layoffs and reapplications that resulted from the 2015 reorganization of the Wall Street Journal’s Personal Finance section and Greater New York the year after 

• We achieved a 12-month limit on temporary workers hired through staffing agencies, with an extension to 18 months in limited cases for certain projects 

• Telecommuters required by the company to relocate to exercise seniority will have 30 days to make the decision, up from 10, and an additional 60 days to move and will have moving expenses covered by the company. 

• Employees under lay off notice will have priority consideration over non employees for job openings for which they are qualified. The priority status will continue for 30 days for employees not able to find a position before their separation date.  

Comp Time 

• The union and the company agreed to move to an all-comp time system for work performed by overtime-expect employees on a scheduled day off. 

• Comp time is calculated at time-and-a-half, and can be cashed out by filing electronically after 30 days or immediately with manager approval. 

• We were able to eliminate the need to come into the office, but not the two-hour threshold, for earning time. 

Scheduling, Vacations, Holiday Pay

• Members who work a holiday after July 3 can cash out the extra day earned for cash 

• Family Day in Ontario is now a contract-recognized holiday 

• Managers must respond to vacation requests within two weeks (with allowances for past department practice for holiday scheduling)

• Managers must give 30 days notice before changing a full-time employee’s permanent schedule, an added two weeks from the previous contract 

• Clarification that reporters on Sunday duty are not required to be on stand-by for Saturday assignments and will not be penalized for being unavailable 

For Members in Sales

• The company agreed to provide a written explanation of changes to incentive plan design

• It will also provide incentive plan participants with a calculator so they can track progress towards goals

Union Administration and Contract Enforcement

• Union members called into a disciplinary meeting will be told clearly the nature of the meeting, be given three hours notice to find a representative and receive written information on how to find a rep. 

• IAPE won the right for an easier process to organize new members 

• The company agreed to our request to provide better information on our members to cut down on administrative work and allow the Union office more time to focus on members 

Session 29: Closing Time

It’s the final day of our contract extension and we expect the focus at the table today to be on the cost of living adjustment, the level of annual compensatory increases for the final two years of the contract and the amount of the ratification bonus for year one. 

Yesterday Dow Jones proposed including a new component to our compensation package for the final two years of the agreement—lump-sum payments tied to the funding level of the company performance component of the management bonus pool. We have offered a counter to the company’s proposal and will have further negotiation on that today as well. 

We have been crunching the numbers and think we are close to a deal that our members deserve. And we have made it clear that we can’t settle for less. 

Show your support on social media for the bargaining committee today. Here’s some suggested language to show solidarity:

• “Proud @IAPE1096 member sending solidarity and strength to our bargaining committee today on the final day of our contract extension. Quality news deserves a quality contract. #IAPEstrong”

• “Standing with our @IAPE1096 bargaining committee today. We are the capital @DowJones. And we deserve a quality contract. #IAPEstrong”

• “@IAPE1096 is back at the table today, the final day of our contract extension. We demonstrated this week why now is the time for a fair deal on wages from @DowJones. #IAPEstrong”

Session 27: Money Talks

We are in the final two days of our contract extension and the bargaining committee will be at the table today and tomorrow in an effort to hammer out a deal on wages that our members deserve. 

Yesterday Dow Jones presented the union a revised proposal offering a ratification bonus of 0.5% of salary for 2019. The company is maintaining its offer for 2% raises for 2019 and 2020 and for 2.25% raises in the final year of the contract.

As a strong majority of our members said this week, we are worth more. And as we have pointed out to company representatives, the money is there.  
Keep showing your support for the bargaining committee and stay tuned for updates in the next 48 hours.

Session 26: Pressing On

After heated talks between the parties last week over wages, IAPE’s bargaining committee and Dow Jones representatives spent yesterday’s session ironing out details for our few other remaining items. 

We discussed language on our proposals for relocation assistance for employees who are required to move at the company’s request, on temporary worker restrictions and protections when job functions are transferred to different departments or locations. 

We also restated our proposal for annual raises—3.25% in 2019, 3.5% in 2020 and 3.75% in the final of our three-year contract—while reasserting that the elimination of the cost of living adjustment provision is unacceptable to the union. 

This week, Dow Jones employees will be receiving details for annual open enrollment, so we are now able to share that we achieved a cost freeze for 2020 and reached agreement on caps to increases for each component of cost-sharing for the final two years of our contract. Our push for higher annual compensatory increases for the next contract takes into account our achievements at the table with health care. 

IAPE members across our locations yesterday showed that we are the company’s greatest asset. We sacrificed in the last contract and ask the company to recognize IAPE members’ contributions now that we are in better times. 

We ask that you continue to show your support for the bargaining committee in our fight for a fair contract and against a wage proposal from the company’s wage that doesn’t keep pace with the cost of living. 

Stay tuned to our campaign updates and watch your inbox for information on future actions.

Session 25: Bargaining

At yesterday’s negotiations IAPE’s bargaining committee and Dow Jones representatives had a day-long exchange about how much the company values its employees. 

We offered a counter to the company’s second disappointing wage proposal while reiterating our position: The proposed 2% increase in good times and bad is unacceptable for our members. And the company’s effort to eliminate the cost of living adjustment protection in a year when COLA comes in at 2.44% is just insulting, we told them.

We started negotiations with a comprehensive proposal and have made gains in a number of areas. In the interest of keeping the conversation moving, we have also reluctantly pulled back some items, such as proposals for enhanced severance and retraining allowance and protections around workplace surveillance and monitoring. 

We have continued to push the company on other issues, including an eight-year progression for reporter salaries, preserving current 401(k) fixed and matching contributions and protections for members if Dow Jones is sold in whole or in part. In 2016, we negotiated an upside protection in the event non-IAPE staff received more than our minimum guaranteed raise. This year we asked for management and executive bonuses to be included in that calculation, as another way to address pay inequity at Dow Jones.  

The annual compensatory increase will continue to be our main focus at the table and we will continue to work towards a fair deal. We have asked Dow Jones to seriously consider our proposal for raises of 3.25% in 2019, 3.5% in 2020 and 3.75% in 2021 for discussion when we meet Tuesday. 

The company asked us what capital we have to offer them. We have an answer: It’s us. We are the company’s greatest asset. 

Dow Jones needs to hear from you. There will be several actions in the coming days where you can add your support. Stay tuned to upcoming events in your location and your email for more. In the meantime, please keep displaying your support for IAPE. We’ve created asocial media icon that can be used as your Dow Jones slack, Gmail or social media profile picture. (Right click on the imagehere to save for upload.)

Session 24: We're Worth More

Yesterday, Dow Jones representatives  presented a counter to our wage proposal and offered 2% raises for this year and next and 2.25% in 2021, the anticipated final year of the next contract. 

While we are pleased to have gained movement on wages for the first time in a decade, we still don’t think that 2% is acceptable for our members. 

Even worse, the company continues to seek elimination of the cost of living adjustment provision of our contract. COLA comes in at 2.44% for 2019, meaning the company’s offer doesn’t keep pace with the cost of living.

We presented our initial proposal on annual raises to the company in July with the explanation that our main objective was to negotiate annual compensatory increases that aren’t negated by rising health insurance costs. The bargaining committee pushed back on the company’s request for “flexibility” to shift more of the burden to our members with no transparency on potential increases and we have achieved caps for each component of cost sharing for the term of our next contract. Keeping those caps in mind as well as the hikes our members have already borne in recent years, it is even more important for us to push for more than 2% so that the gains the committee has made this year with health care aren’t canceled out by paltry raises. 

In our view, setting our guaranteed raise higher promotes transparency and pay equity, which is especially important given the pay gaps and issues with pay practices at Dow Jones the union has identified.

The bargaining committee will be back at the table tomorrow to present our response to the company, which we will share with you on Friday. 

Starting next week, we will be having a series of meetings throughout our locations to give members a chance to hear more about our proposals from members of the bargaining committee and ask questions about negotiations. We’ll be connecting with San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and others. Stay tuned to our events page for more info.

We also ask that you keep displaying your IAPE support so that management knows that you deserve a quality contract. We’ve created a social media icon that can be used as your slack, Gmail or social media profile picture. Right click on the image here to save for upload. We ask members to change their icon to show your support and strength as we head into the home stretch.

Session 23: Holding Firm

IAPE understands that negotiations require give and take, but the company’s proposal to keep raises at 2% for well into a decade was unacceptable to our members. And yesterday we made sure the company received the message on and off the bargaining table. 

We told the company again that 4% annual raises were the right place to start the conversation. In the interest of pushing talks forward, IAPE’s bargaining committee presented Dow Jones a package of our top priorities that we think would settle the contract. These include:

• Set limits to increases on deductibles, co-insurance, co-pay, specialist visits and out-of-pocket maximums for term of the next contract 

• Eliminating the need to reapply for a job in a restructuring when jobs functions will be the same

• A 12-month limit on temporary workers hired through staffing agencies, with an extension to 18 months in limited cases for projects with notice to the Union

• Preserving current 401(k) fixed and matching contributions

• Enhanced protections if Dow Jones is sold in whole or in part

• Increases to stand-by pay and shift differential rates 

• More time for telecommuters to make the decision to move if required by the company to relocate to exercise seniority 

IAPE started with a comprehensive proposal and we have reached tentative agreement or are near tentative agreement on the majority of the items we presented. 

We have agreed to a simplified process for submitting and cashing out comp time. The company has agreed to a union proposal for additional notice in advance of disciplinary meetings, and to clearly inform members in advance if they are being disciplined. 

Employees who receive promotions after May 1st in any contract year will still be entitled to our annual negotiated pay raises. We have secured additional advance notice of permanent schedule changes for employees, and we rejected a company proposal to make self-evaluations a mandatory component of the annual performance evaluation process. 

Starting next year, employees will be able to receive an extra day’s pay instead of an extra day off when working on the July 4th holiday in the U.S. or the August Civic Day holiday for members in Canada. (Our current contract allows automatic cash out for holidays worked after Sept. 1.) And members who become disabled while on an unpaid leave will be eligible for short term and long term disability. For our members in sales, the company has agreed to provide a written explanation of changes to incentive plans. 

We vow after ratification to keep pushing certain other items such as lost vacation time because of workload, access to job openings for qualified candidates, better training and maintaining vigilance on claiming employees who are improperly classified outside of the Union. 

The company will provide IAPE with a response next Tuesday at our bargaining session in Princeton. Members in South Brunswick are invited to a chai break at 10 a.m. that morning to help the bargaining committee fuel up for another round of negotiations. 

Your visible support has helped the bargaining committee mount a solid campaign to ensure that IAPE members have a contract that recognizes your hard work and contributions to the company’s success. 

There are now several ways for you to show the company that you deserve a quality contract. 

• Using your IAPE mug

• Email signature & social media profile update

• Desktop/screensaver wallpaper

• T-shirt Tuesdays

• Wearing your new red lanyard 

• Displaying your button or sticker at your workstation

Stay tuned for more. And thank you to the members who have already participated in these actions! 

Session 22: World-Class Disappointment

Yesterday Dow Jones presented IAPE’s bargaining committee with a wage proposal that is far less encouraging than the rosy commentary from senior executives on the company’s performance and outlook.  

The company offered the union 2% annual salary increases for the next three years while continuing to push for the elimination of the cost of living adjustment provision in our contract.

The union-negotiated raise has been at 2% for eight years and is the same increase we settled for in 2016 against the backdrop of a precipitous decline in ad revenue, consolidation of sections in The Wall Street Journal and global layoffs at the company. 

This year, COLA comes in at 2.44%. Had our 2016-19 contract been in effect through 2020, with a 2% raise scheduled for July 1 of this year, existing COLA protection would have required that members receive a 2.44% raise. 

Since the beginning of these negotiations IAPE has fought to hold on to a mechanism designed to shield members in the event that inflation wipes out the minimum yearly raise guaranteed in our contract. The company’s wage proposal makes clear we will have to fight harder for raises that simply keep pace with the cost of living. 

We also know that our members have made sacrifices through years of stagnant wages and rising health care costs to help the company to better footing. 

We are certain your hard work has helped give Dow Jones the “distinctive ability to prosper in the digital age” and we will continue to push for an annual compensatory increase that truly  recognizes your value. We think we’re worth more. 

We want to hear your stories of financial sacrifices you have made because of low salary increases over the years. Have you had to look for extra work? Have you struggled to make ends meet? What have you had to give up in order to keep up with the cost of living? We want to hear from you. Please fill out this submission form if you have a story to share. 

We will also need your continued support with visibility around the office. Help us keep up the momentum with the upcoming T-shirt Tuesday on October 1. Make sure your colleagues around you have their shirts and are ready to show their support for an increase that keeps up with the cost of living. If folks still need their shirts, check the last campaign update for info on upcoming pickups.

Session 21: The Power of Collective Bargaining

During these negotiations, IAPE has pushed for updates to our contract language addressing company covered leaves and other benefits offered at Dow Jones. We often help members navigate the confusing labyrinth of Dow Jones bureaucracy so they can access available benefits. Parental leave is one of the most important, and yesterday the company and union agreed on a simplified explanation of leave entitlements for new parents and easy-to-understand references to company resources that will be included in our contract. 

Yesterday company representatives also presented a response to IAPE’s latest health care counter-proposal on limits to employee cost-sharing. The bargaining committee is reviewing the numbers, and we can report that we have moved even closer to an understanding of the increases we think are acceptable to our members. We are still awaiting the company’s presentation on wages, and reiterated to representatives that the union can’t offer any more compromises until we do. 

We think that two months is too long to wait for a wage proposal, and are asking all our members to wear their new IAPE T-shirts on Tuesday, Sept. 24, and every Tuesday, until we get a quality contract. If you haven’t gotten your T-shirt yet, we’ll be emailing details Monday morning on handout times and locations in your office.

We have started counting the days we have gone without a wage proposal from the company. There are a number of ways you can display your support for the bargaining committee, from wearing a lanyard or button, to changing your desktop wallpaper. Let’s help show management you’re on board to getting the quality contract you deserve.

Session 20: Two Months, Too Long

IAPE presented Dow Jones representatives with our wage proposal on July 18, exactly two months ago to the day, yet we have still not received a response or counter from the company. And we have received no indication as to when we will receive one. 

We’ve tried to tell the company that getting a fair deal on our priority items is our main goal, and that it is difficult to negotiate any further without any clarity on a key component of our contract. 

IAPE’s bargaining committee has made significant progress throughout negotiations in securing meaningful advances to our current collective bargaining agreement. Our discussions on health care have been fruitful, and we had another productive discussion on benefits with company representatives at yesterday’s session. 

But we can’t move forward or offer any more compromises on the items still outstanding until we see the company’s wage proposal. 

We have tried to explain to the company that we need our raises, and the bargaining committee needs your help to make sure they understand. Our new IAPE t-shirts are being distributed this week in all the major offices and bureaus in anticipation of our first “T-shirt Tuesday” next week on September 24. We’re asking all our members to wear IAPE shirts in the offices on Tuesday or place them on the back of your chairs for visibility. Stay tuned for meet-up times for group photos in each location. We’ll continue t-shirt Tuesdays until we’ve secured the quality contract we deserve. And in the meantime, keep wearing buttons, displaying stickers and keep those desktop backgrounds visible with our campaign wallpaper. 

We are counting the days that we’ve gone without a response to wages and we will keep you updated on ways for you to help amplify that count. 

Session 19: Labor/Management

IAPE’s collective bargaining agreement is enforced primarily in a monthly forum with Dow Jones representatives where we regularly raise workplace concerns on behalf of our members. These meetings, held on the third Thursday of each month, is also where we discuss grievances filed for violations of our contract.

At yesterday’s session, company representatives told us again that had we brought certain issues to them in the monthly meetings, they might have taken some of our proposals more seriously. 

We think this isn’t the best argument against the union’s efforts to secure meaningful protections in our contract, but we want to remind members to reach out to your rep when you think there is a problem in your group or department to see if we can present it on our regular agenda.

During bargaining, we continue to meet at “the small table,” as they’ve referred to it, and we’ve used these meetings to bring up cases of problem managers, to ask questions about compensation, and to dispute when we think a member has been fired without cause. 

We continue to think that a stronger contract will be most helpful to our members and make the items we bring monthly even more difficult for the company to dispute or brush aside. 

We have an abbreviated bargaining week and will be back to the table on Tuesday to give the company our response to its latest health care proposal. 

Buttons and stickers were distributed around most of our locations this week. We are asking members to wear your button in the office on your lanyard or bag. Laptops and notebooks are a good place to display your sticker. Check in with your union peers and make sure they’ve gotten their IAPE gear. Email Stefanie Frey at stefanie.frey@iape1096.org if you need more! And if you haven’t done so already, make sure you check out last week’s action item where we asked everyone to display support at our desks by changing your desktop & screensaver image.

Session 18: Progress on a Priority

Dow Jones representatives yesterday presented IAPE’s bargaining committee with a more detailed response to our health care proposal that moved closer towards the protections we are seeking against unpredictable increases to cost sharing. 

We were pleased the company heard our concerns and is meeting the union’s request for clear limits to premiums, deductibles, out-of-pocket maximums and other components of our personal health expenditures in an easy to understand table that is included in our contract.

Though we aren’t able to at this point share details on the specific increases the company is seeking, we assure you that we maintain our goal of limiting increases to a level that won’t erode annual raises. 

To that end, we again requested the company be prepared to present its proposal for the guaranteed raise and other economic items in our contract when we meet again to discuss health care next Thursday.

We are still further apart than we want to be on important issues. We are waiting on a response to our proposal to create pay tiers that would stop some people from falling far behind others. And we are continuing to push on issues like whether reporters should be told to be on standby on a Saturday for news that's not on their beats with no compensation for doing so. The company tells us that requiring you to make yourself available for the remote chance that something happens, with no pay at all for it, is just part of the job. We disagree, on everyone’s behalf.

We’re excited to see so many members change their desktop wallpaper screen saver to show your support for the bargaining committee. We have new IAPE stickers you can put on your laptop or notebook and buttons to wear on your lanyard to let management know that the union’s efforts have your backing.

For those of you in New York, we hope to see you next Thursday at O’Briens for our IAPE Happy Hour. And stay tuned for events and meetings in your location! 

Session 17: Waiting for Wages

Pay is always a top issue for IAPE and even more so during collective bargaining, as we understand that for most of our membership the annual compensatory increase in our contract is the only raise they can count on. 

We’ve also heard from members who have been promised merit increases that they are on hold until we settle on a new contract. We want to remind you that there is nothing in our agreement that bars the company from granting raises, and that promotions and job changes do take place during negotiation periods. Though we know from experience that management often includes the union-negotiated raise within the merit-raise figure members are presented. 

At our Tuesday negotiating session, we again requested from Dow Jones representatives a response to our wage proposal or a counter with their own number for consideration. 

While we have had fruitful discussions on health care, the company has told us it is holding out on offering a wage proposal because of dissatisfaction with protections we are seeking during layoffs and around the company’s use of freelancers and contract workers, in particular. 

Though we’ve made significant moves to meet the company in the middle on items the company has deemed less important, we know these issues are vital for IAPE members.

The union and the company already have tentative agreements on more than two-dozen items of contract language changes, covering items from the very minor—like the title of our job description document—to more significant matters such as ensuring employees who receive promotions after May 1st in any contract year are still entitled to our annual negotiated pay raises. We have secured additional advance notice of permanent schedule changes for employees, and we have turned back a company proposal to make self-evaluations a mandatory component of the annual performance evaluation process. The company has agreed to a union proposal for additional notice in advance of disciplinary meetings, and to clearly inform members in advance if they are being disciplined. 

We will continue to fight for a deal that is best for our members and are ready and willing to strike a fair agreement on health care, wages and other priority items.

The bargaining committee needs your support to get the contract you deserve. Brand new IAPE stickers and buttons are arriving this week in New York, Princeton, Los Angeles, Washington, San Francisco and Chicago. We are encouraging members to wear their buttons on their lanyards or bags. Notebooks and laptops are great places to display your stickers. We have also rolled out a desktop wallpaper that we all can use as backgrounds and/or screensavers on our computers. You can also find other sizes for social in our Campaign Kit. Stay tuned for events throughout September where you can learn about more ways to support. 

Session 16: Healthy Dialogue

IAPE’s bargaining committee on Thursday received a positive response from Dow Jones on the union’s health care proposal calling for clear limits to each portion of employee cost sharing.

Company representatives told us they understood our concerns regarding unpredictable increases and our desire to have the limits included in our contract. 

We expect subsequent discussions with the company to focus on cap levels, and we will share details as we are able while we work towards a deal on benefits. In the meantime, the terms of our current contract will continue through the end of October. 

We think we will be able to reach an agreement sooner than that, but we will need your continued and visible support to make that possible.

We have new swag coming in the next few weeks to continue spreading the word that “quality news deserves a quality contract”. Stay tuned for more in campaign updates next week. We also have mugs left for those that haven’t yet received one. Check in with your location director or email us at union@iape1096.org to get yours. It’s great to see so many of you supporting with the email signature/social media IAPE insert and keeping those mugs out and about! You are helping make our message at the table even stronger.

Session 15: Words Matter

Since we started collective bargaining nearly three months ago, IAPE’s bargaining committee has had a clear plan and a proposal that has included contract language aimed at addressing our members’ most pressing concerns. 

After rounds of givebacks in previous negotiations, years of erosion to our compensation because of rising health care costs and a contract that failed to keep pace with our changing workplace, a comprehensive proposal was an appropriate place to start the conversation with Dow Jones. 

Yesterday, company representatives expressed frustration at the union’s thoroughness in seeking meaningful protections in our contract, even though their approach has been to discuss items in concept without offering language proposals. Given our immediate dispute regarding contract interpretation following Bargaining 2016, we think that words matter. And especially on key issues such as an employee’s rights when jobs change, seniority, the company’s use of contract workers and pay outside of scheduled work hours. 

As your bargaining representatives, getting the best deal on our most important issues is our primary objective. We think we have made significant headway given that we have yet to receive a response or counter to our wage proposal.

We will have another discussion on health care at tomorrow’s negotiation and will continue to push the company towards a substantive discussion on our proposal for clear limits to each portion of employee cost sharing. 

Tomorrow is the final day of our 60-day contract extension, and we expect Dow Jones will honor our request for an extension of our contract terms as they have in past years while we get to a final deal.

IAPE’s bargaining committee needs your support now, and there are a number of ways you can get involved. We’re also planning a series of meetings and events at all our locations through the next few weeks, stay tuned to your inbox or see your location director for more information. 

And if you’re at 1211, please note that we’ve changed the day for our Bagel Breakfast next week. Details below:

Bagels & Bargaining Updates

• Come grab a bagel and fill your new IAPE coffee mug as members from the bargaining committee give you the latest news from the negotiating table. We’ll have some new swag items available as well to help support the bargaining team as they continue to advocate for a quality contract. 

• Where: Yankees Meeting Room (5th Floor)

• When: Friday September 6th @ 11a

Session 14: Union Gains Victory With Fitness Benefit

IAPE members will continue to have access to the fitness reimbursement benefit and won’t be forced to use the Virgin Pulse program, company representatives told the bargaining committee at Tuesday’s session.

We’re pleased the company heard us when we told them about your concerns about Virgin Pulse’s potential impact on members of color, gay men, women, disabled employees—and anyone concerned about privacy.  

We hope it’s the first of several instances where members speak, and the company listens.

Among other important wins, Dow Jones pulled back on its proposals to diminish seniority rights by making merit the first criterion in layoffs and for mandatory self assessments and goal setting in annual performance reviews. 

As we told you last week, we are still awaiting the company’s response to our wage proposal and we will have further discussion on health care to reach the union’s objective of clear limits on each portion of cost sharing in an easy-to-understand table that is included in our contract. 

We’ve had some productive conversations with the company on benefits and will continue to fight for caps on increases that won’t erode pay increases.  

We are committed to reaching a deal on a quality contract that offers our members real protections and will need your help to be successful. Soon, we’ll be sharing some simple ways for you to show your support as we continue our work at the table. We are also in the process of ordering t-shirts (as well as some other swag) for all members. Request a t-shirt size & color ahead of time to help us finalize our counts. And finally, make sure to grab a mug from your location representative if you haven’t yet received one!

Session 13: Rude Health

Health care makes up a significant portion of our compensation and IAPE’s proposals this year are laser-focused on putting limits on the cost-shifting trend we’ve experienced in recent years.

In our third discussion of benefits with Dow Jones representatives, the bargaining committee presented the company with our revised proposal outlining up to 5% increases to each component of cost sharing throughout the term of our next contract. 

According to our analysis, the company’s overall health costs have been relatively flat, making the increases the company told us it was projecting earlier in negotiations especially unacceptable. 

We will continue to push for fair health costs that prevent Dow Jones from increasing the burden further. We are still waiting for a response to our wage proposal, which calls for a 4% raise for every year of the contract, and will continue to weigh these priority items in tandem to get the best agreement for our members. 

The bargaining committee also reiterated our position that we would allow the Virgin Pulse wellness benefit to be offered to our members as long as the company maintains a reimbursement option. The union’s opposition to Virgin Pulse has mainly been focused on the generally intrusive nature of a more difficult to use benefit. Yesterday we outlined concerns brought to us by employees who have access to the program, including that people of color and individuals with disabilities, among others, may not be able to make full use of the program.

A reminder that our 60-day extension period ends on Aug. 29, and we are recommending that members get in their fitness reimbursements by that date. In the past, the union and company have usually agreed to allow the terms of our contract to continue after the extension period while we work out a deal. 

Please continue to show your support for the bargaining committee on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. See your representative if you haven’t gotten your IAPE mug and stay tuned for information about meetings and activities in your location. 

Session 12: Bargaining for You

Throughout two months of negotiations, IAPE’s bargaining committee has told Dow Jones representatives that we are here to deliver our members a contract that provides them meaningful protections. 

Our members made concessions over a series of contracts that helped position the company for the period of prosperity it is in now, and we think the proposals we have presented adequately account for your role in this success. 

Your priorities are clear–transparency surrounding health care cost sharing and increases that don’t erode annual pay raises and more certainty when jobs end or need to change. 

Tomorrow we will be making the case for reasonable increases to health care, with clear limits on each portion of employee cost sharing. We’ll also be reiterating our position on Virgin Pulse–if the company insists on offering a wellness benefit that forces employees to enter personal health information, there has to be a straight reimbursement option as well. 

We ask for your support as we fight for security on benefits that make up a significant part of your compensation. If you haven’t already, post a photo of your IAPE mug on social media (and see the representative from your office if you don’t have one). And tomorrow, follow along as your bargaining committee and representatives show the company that quality news deserves a quality contract.

Session 11: Building Momentum

IAPE’s bargaining committee has made headway at the negotiating table with Dow Jones on some of our proposals and we are focusing in on our priority items in an effort to reach a deal that our members deserve.

We’ve gained ground by winning added notice time for disciplinary meetings, some language improvements around disability leave, adding July 4th (and Civic Day in Ontario) to the list of holidays eligible for payout for the extra day worked and better information about our members.

But we are still far apart on our priority items—mainly job security and benefits—which we will be discussing again with the company next week. 

As we near the end of our 60-day extension period, we will need your help to ensure that the company knows our proposals have your backing. Stay tuned to email & the IAPE slack workspace for instructions on how you can show your support when we are back at the table fighting against unpredictable increases to your health insurance and job security provisions that provide you real protection in a dynamic industry.

And a reminder that we are still awaiting the company’s response on our wage proposal. 

In the meantime, share a photo of your new IAPE mug on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and contact our new Mobilizing Director, Stefanie Frey (stefanie.frey@iape1096.org), to learn how you can get involved and help get the word out about Bargaining 2019! 

Suggested language for Social Media Posts

• “Supporting my bargaining committee as they fight for tktktk... health care, job security, pay, a fair contract....! #IAPEstrong” (Feel free to fill in with what's meaningful to you!)

• “Strong coffee, strong union. #IAPEstrong”

• “Proud to support my bargaining committee! #IAPEstrong”

• “Proud IAPE member! #IAPEstrong”

Please be sure to keep your messaging positive and union focused.
We are NOT making noise about the contract, we are simply showing union solidarity and support.