Blaming the Union for Layoffs?

This morning, during the daily World Desk call, Coverage Chief Gordon Fairclough reportedly claimed “union rules” were to blame for the “poor rollout” of last week’s layoffs in Washington.

We say nonsense.

Let’s talk about “union rules,” otherwise known as “the contract.” There is absolutely nothing, not one word, in the agreement between IAPE and Dow Jones requiring management to eliminate positions by layoff.

Choosing to erase a collective 203 years of WSJ experience from the IAPE-represented ranks of the DC Newsroom—plus an untold number of years worked by Journal editors slashed by last week’s job cuts—is a management decision.

The IAPE/DJ contract requires the company to provide “at least” 30 days’ advance notice to affected employees and to the union before eliminating a position by layoff. There is absolutely nothing, not one word, in the agreement preventing the company from providing additional advance notice.

Choosing to permit rumors to circulate and cause an entire bureau to worry about layoffs for weeks is a management decision.

There is absolutely nothing, not one word, in the agreement requiring the company to eliminate jobs in the nation’s capital, record those job cuts as “layoffs”  and reassign those same roles to New York, Houston and Atlanta.

Choosing to (characterizing this as charitably as we can) reallocate resources is a management decision.

There is absolutely nothing, not one word, in the agreement preventing company officials from openly explaining to department staff, on the day layoffs are to be announced, why positions need to be cut from a company recording record profits quarter after quarter.

Choosing to hustle through a prepared statement, refuse to take questions from assembled employees, spend hours delivering individual layoff meeting notices to staff, and then have the Editor in Chief claim—a full day later—that a company has eliminated 30 valued, experienced, award-winning journalists so it can bring “the right skills into the newsroom” is, you guessed it, a management decision.

Don’t try to pass this mess onto us, Gordon.

Here’s what “union rules” DO require:

The contract requires the company to respect the rule of seniority when management chooses to eliminate positions through layoff—but even that rule has a loophole. Management may retain less-senior staff when it can legitimately demonstrate it is not “possible and practicable” for more-senior employees to perform remaining work.

The contract also requires the company to pay up to 52 weeks’ wages as severance pay when management chooses to eliminate positions via layoff—a requirement that is under attack in negotiations for a new collective agreement between IAPE and Dow Jones. The proposal to remove all contract protections covering benefits—including severance pay—from the IAPE/DJ contract is, you guessed it, a management decision.

We’ve seen the fallout from these management decisions. We cannot allow this proposal to succeed.

On Thursday, the IAPE Bargaining Committee will resume contract negotiations with Dow Jones management. All IAPE members are encouraged to observe how management decides to respond to IAPE’s next contract proposal.

Join us.