Bargaining Update: The Thing About Math
/Negotiations between IAPE and Dow Jones continued Thursday, in front of another record-high number of IAPE member observers who witnessed management present a new, comprehensive contract proposal.
(Remember: you can follow the progression of IAPE and Dow Jones proposals at our 2023-24 Bargaining page.)
Dow Jones Proposal 17 restated many of the company’s previous proposals, with small moves in areas like minimum scale increases.
Management also made another small adjustment in its wage proposal, moving from its Mar. 21 offer of a combined Year 1 & 2 raise of 6.75% effective May 1, 2024, to a new combined Year 1 & 2 raise of 7.00% effective upon ratification of a new contract.
Sounds like progress, right? It’s actually not. We’ll explain why.
Before we do, an IAPE correction is necessary.
In our Mar. 22 member update, we criticized Dow Jones for claiming, “The Company’s current proposal would result in a total compensation package that surpasses those reached at our peer companies, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Associated Press and Reuters in their recent labor negotiations.”
We focused on the 2023 contract settlement at The New York Times, and said, “We did the math.”
During an Apr. 4 bargaining session, Dow Jones claimed our calculations were wrong—that instead of a wage gap between Dow Jones proposals and NY Times pay by as much as 2.60% as IAPE claimed, the gap was much smaller: 1.42% for the median IAPE wage earner; 0.96% for members earning between $100,000 and $119,999; 0.79% for those paid between $120,000 and $159,999; and 0.51% for those paid above $160,000.
And you know what? The company was right about this. See for yourself, we’re not embarrassed to show our work. Because it helps us demonstrate that the company’s new proposal—still offering a $1,500 payment as a replacement for retroactive pay, and still combining two years’ worth of pay increases into one—actually pays less money to members than the Dow Jones proposal from last month.
By pushing the effective date for its new Year 1 & 2 proposal beyond May 1, 2024 and making it “Effective on ratification”—we’re using June 1 as a hypothetical date for purposes of this exercise—the 0.25% “increase” actually becomes a 0.05% reduction compared to last month’s offer.
And it still trails behind last year’s wage settlement at The Times.
IAPE and Dow Jones will return to the bargaining table on Apr. 18. Members are again encouraged to join open bargaining as observers. See your email to register. We also recommend signing up for IAPE Slack, where members continue to plan collective actions like . . .
The IAPE Coffee Break: Nicely Done
Thanks to all members who responded quickly to our call for a coordinated coffee break yesterday afternoon in support of eleven members laid off Wednesday in another round of cuts by Dow Jones management. Members gathered en masse at company offices in New York, with smaller gatherings at other bureaus and on Zoom.
Stay tuned for more member action announcements from the IAPE Contract Action Team. If you’re interested in joining the CAT and helping with event planning, email union@iape1096.org for volunteer information.