No Fooling: We’re Working Without a Contract

At 12:01 a.m. EDT today, the collective bargaining agreement between IAPE and Dow Jones expired. IAPE-represented employees across Dow Jones are now working without a contract.

Neither IAPE nor Dow Jones requested another extension of the agreement. The contract, which has a printed expiration date of June 30, 2023, was automatically extended for 60 days through the end of August. The parties agreed to additional two-month extensions in September and November of last year, followed by month-to-month agreements in January, February and March.

IAPE will continue to meet and negotiate with Dow Jones in hopes of reaching a successor agreement. Bargaining is scheduled to resume Thursday, Apr. 4 at 10:00 a.m. EDT. All IAPE members are welcome to join that meeting as open bargaining observers.

In the short term, working without a contract will be indistinguishable from working under an extended agreement. Most substantive terms and conditions of employment continue indefinitely. Now that the contract has expired, the “No Strikes” provision of the Agreement—Article XXIII—is no longer in effect. IAPE members can now participate in coercive economic activity, such as picketing outside of Dow Jones workplaces.

IAPE members have continued to work without a contract during previous rounds of negotiations, most recently in 2007 when IAPE and Dow Jones negotiated for ten months before reaching a contract agreement. Prior to that, the CBA expired in 2003 and IAPE members worked without a contract until a new agreement was ratified in August of 2004.

CORRECTION: This post has been updated to correct the date of the next bargaining meeting between IAPE and Dow Jones, scheduled for Thursday, Apr. 4.

New Grievances Filed
Concerned about an uptick in disciplinary meetings involving IAPE members, the union’s Grievance Committee has filed seven new complaints alleging Dow Jones has violated employee rights and workplace protections.

The new grievances challenge an assortment of management actions, with four claims that discipline—written warning letters—has been issued without just and sufficient cause, one claim of discharge without cause, one allegation of discrimination for failing to recognize workplace accommodations, and one charge alleging management has violated the “Rehire” provision of the collective agreement.

The IAPE Grievance Committee is scheduled to meet with Dow Jones counterparts on Wednesday afternoon.