Bargaining Update: We Waited for That?

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Dow Jones Changes Parental Leave

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With the holidays over, Dow Jones and IAPE returned to the virtual bargaining table Thursday ready to build on all the progress made during December negotiations and, with more than 50 IAPE members joining as open bargaining observers, hammer out an agreement for a new collective bargaining agreement.

Just kidding.

What actually happened is Dow Jones offered a department list relatively unchanged from its Dec. 7 proposal. Management apparently overlooked IAPE’s Dec. 14 proposal in which IAPE accepted all the company’s department merger responses except those for Investigative, Life & Work (in Washington), Washington Bureau and BG Barron’s groups.

Dow Jones filled in some missing gaps by agreeing to union merger proposals in WSJ Web and WSJ Web Mobile departments, but continued to list 52 departments as “under discussion - awaiting union response.”

The responses we provided three weeks ago.

Look, we get it. The holidays are busy times. People are on vacation. There are other work responsibilities. The same is true for IAPE’s mostly-volunteer Bargaining Committee. And it takes a lot of work to dig through a list of Dow Jones departments and determine whether common work groups should be merged. We should know, it was our proposal. However, to all but ignore the union’s department responses—not to mention failing to provide any meaningful counters on other job security proposals or artificial intelligence—is disappointing.

We told the company on Thursday, we recognize we have reached many tentative agreements in this process so far. Still, a significant amount of work remains to reach a deal on big-ticket items like wages and health care premiums. If we can’t be certain the company is going to seriously consider union proposals on subjects where we are close to an agreement, what should we expect for topics where great distances between IAPE and Dow Jones remain?

We’ll find out soon enough. Bargaining resumes Thursday, Jan. 11. All members are welcome to join open bargaining as observers. See your email for registration links..

Company Announces Parental Leave Changes
Dow Jones representatives opened bargaining on Thursday with an apology of sorts, explaining that a Jan. 3 notice in The Lede announcing changes to the company’s Parental Leave Policy was delivered without the knowledge of the company’s Legal department.

“We would have given you a heads up,” management said.

ICYMI, the item read, “We’re excited to announce a significant enhancement to our Paid Parental Leave policy, effective Jan. 1, 2024. Starting in the new year, Dow Jones is eliminating the distinction between primary and secondary caregivers. This change ensures that all benefit-eligible Dow Jones employees, regardless of caregiver status, will now be entitled to 20 weeks of paid parental leave."

This, of course, is a change IAPE proposed at the outset of this round of contract negotiations—one the company appeared to accept, but with a requirement for the union to waive bargaining rights over future changes to this and other benefits, including health care, other leaves of absence and severance pay.

The union welcomes the company’s decision to finally eliminate the distinction between primary and secondary caregivers, and will continue to insist on the ability to negotiate improvements to Dow Jones benefits and policies affecting union-represented employees.

Join the IAPE CAT!
IAPE will be ramping up collective actions in 2024 similar to the Almar Candy Gram campaign at the end of 2023. If you'd like to assist in planning and coordinating those efforts, email us at union@iape1096.org to join the Contract Action Team (CAT). Questions about negotiations are welcome at the same address.

The New York Times Guild built a similar CAT to help facilitate actions during their lengthy negotiations for a new contract. The CAT was a driving force in getting members motivated and involved in bargaining and was ultimately influential in members’ walkout and eventual deal. 

The next IAPE CAT meeting, via Zoom, is Tuesday, Jan. 9 at 1:00 p.m. EST.