IAPE Surveys: The Results

66% of IAPE members responding to union surveys would prefer Covid-19 vaccinations to be required for any Dow Jones employee to work in-office, and 71% of members say they do not plan on volunteering to return to a Dow Jones office during the company’s “Phase 2” reopening stage.

Two IAPE surveys, conducted prior to the announcement this week from Dow Jones CEO Almar Latour, that offices in the Americas are scheduled to proceed to Phase 2 on Sept. 7, received responses from approximately 20% of all IAPE-represented employees. Not surprisingly, members in News comprised the largest single component of survey participants, with 49% of replies to survey questions about desk packing and voluntary return plans, and 41% of respondents to questions about requirements for vaccinations, masks and Covid testing.

For complete survey results according to Dow Jones division -- News, Sales, Technology and “Other” -- see the IAPE website at iape1096.org/surveyresults.

Union To Proceed To Arbitration
IAPE has informed Dow Jones that it intends to file for arbitration over a union grievance concerning advance notice of disciplinary and investigatory meetings.

The grievance was first filed in July of last year after a group of employees were summoned to meetings as part of a company investigation. None of the employees were targets of the investigation.

In 2019, the union and the company agreed to new contract language which states, “An Employee shall be informed no less than three (3) hours in advance of any disciplinary or investigative meetings to which the Employee is called to attend. Notice to the Employee will clearly identify the subject matter of the meeting as either disciplinary or investigatory and will include a written statement that the Employee has the right to request from the Union that a Union representative may be present for the meeting.” The July meeting invitations informed employees they should not discuss the subject matter of the meeting with anyone.

Dow Jones has since taken the position that this contractual notice requirement should only apply when an employee summoned to a meeting is the subject of its investigation. This conflicts with IAPE representatives’ recollection of negotiations leading to the 2019 agreement.

The union informed company representatives of its decision yesterday during the regular, monthly meetings of IAPE and Dow Jones Classification, Labor/Management and Grievance Committees. An arbitration hearing for this grievance will likely be scheduled later this year.

New York: Paid Leave For Vaccinations
IAPE members working in New York, in case you missed the news, New York State adopted legislation on Mar. 12 providing paid time off to receive Covid-19 vaccinations.

“Under this new law, employees will be granted up to four hours of excused leave per injection that will not be charged against any other leave the employee has earned or accrued,” reads the notice from the State.

IAPE has asked Dow Jones whether it plans on extending this benefit to employees outside of New York. Thus far, the company has not provided a formal response, though IAPE has been informed that “any employee who is able to schedule their vaccinations will be granted time,” whether that time is considered work/life balance leave, sick time, or some other form of available time off.

Equal Pay Day
On Wednesday, IAPE and other Locals of The NewsGuild-CWA participated in Equal Pay Day. Unions tweeted messages to call attention to the issue of pay equity and pay gaps across lines of gender and ethnicities.

As long-time IAPE members know well, pay gaps are as much an issue at Dow Jones as at many other companies across the United States and Canada. Your union has developed a process to assist members determine whether they are underpaid relative to their peers, and to better inform and prepare those who are discussing discretionary pay increases with their managers.

The IAPE pay review can provide you with helpful salary data. To request your individual review, email payreview@iape1096.org.