Bargaining Update: Job Security & AI

IAPE representatives presented two new contract proposals during a short negotiation session with Dow Jones today. The union bargaining committee shared a package proposal to address respective positions over job security, as well as a revised proposal on the impact of artificial intelligence and other new technologies on the IAPE-represented workforce.

The new union AI proposal would require payment of an additional six weeks of severance pay to any employee who loses a job as a result of the introduction of new technology.

IAPE also proposed requirements to train employees on new technology, to prevent the company from using AI “to perform work that is editorial in nature,” and to protect employees from having their voices used without permission.

Today’s union offer on job security responds to a Dow Jones proposal to increase “windows” for grouping seniority dates. IAPE has agreed to consider employees with fewer than three years of continuous service to have equal seniority protection. However, the union countered a company proposal to grant equal seniority status to anyone hired within three years for longer-term employees—effectively a six-year seniority range, in IAPE’s view—to bands of eighteen months.

Currently, employees with more than two years of service have equal seniority with employees hired within one year of their hire date.

IAPE also shared a comprehensive list of departments to be merged under its job security proposal, which would result in larger employee groups when comparing seniority dates.

Negotiations ended today without an agreement on either item. Bargaining is scheduled to resume on Friday with a discussion of job classification issues.

Strike School
On Saturday, Sept. 30, IAPE’s parent unions The NewsGuild (TNG) and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) hosted a hybrid-style Strike School, which included panels and workshops with union locals who have been on strike or are preparing to strike. IAPE staff and members joined over 200 attendees from across the United States and Canada discussing topics including escalating collective actions, the process for strike approval, and strike funds.

One of the guiding principles of Strike School is “Learn, Do, Teach" which encourages participants to take the training back to their locals and members. As IAPE continues this round of negotiations with Dow Jones, representatives are working on adapting the materials from Strike School for IAPE to build collective power.

See your email for a short questionnaire about your interest in attending IAPE Strike School.

Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh: Still on Strike
Did you know that 28 NewsGuild units have already engaged in a work stoppage of one day or more in 2023?

As we enter October, more than 100 of our Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh union siblings have been on strike against their employer, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette for one year. Members continue to demand that the company reinstate their health insurance and follow federal labor law to bargain in good faith.

IAPE members who would like to support Pittsburgh Guild efforts can donate to the local strike fund and can subscribe to the local strike publication, the Pittsburgh Union Progress (PUP).