Dow Jones Knows How You Are, Delays Added Assistance Anyway

IAPE met with Dow Jones representatives yesterday expecting to engage in a constructive dialogue after the union presented a reasonable set of proposals to address the extraordinary burdens employees are experiencing while working from home during the pandemic. 

After all, the company is required to negotiate with IAPE regarding matters that affect the working conditions of our represented employees, which make up a significant portion of the Dow Jones workforce. 

Unfortunately, Dow Jones representatives weren’t able to provide a response to the union’s demands or any insight as to why—despite its dedicated committee, a consultant, four employee surveys, and months and months and months of meetings—senior management has failed to provide any updated solutions for dependent care and office equipment since what was offered in the beginning of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, our counterparts at The New York Times, Bloomberg, The Washington Post and others have received hundreds of dollars more for equipment and have been able to access added support for dependent care throughout the pandemic, in one case through the same third-party provider that Dow Jones uses. 

Dow Jones has historically offered employees assigned to work from home full-time $40 a month towards the cost of Internet connection. Two days after IAPE delivered a demand for negotiations over Covid benefits, Dow Jones extended this monthly payment to California employees while acknowledging state law requires employers to cover the cost of certain items for employees required to work from their homes.

IAPE thinks it is only fair for Dow Jones to appropriately recognize the hardships faced by all employees by granting everyone access to the broadband allowance, and by meeting the other demands in our proposals calling for enhanced dependent care support, an increased equipment allowance and expansion of reimbursable items under the physical fitness program.