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.)