Happy Holidays!

The officers, directors and staff of IAPE TNG-CWA Local 1096 would like to wish all our members a safe and happy holiday season. The union office will be closed on Friday, Dec. 24 and Friday, Dec. 31.

Under the terms of the collective agreement between IAPE and Dow Jones, Dec. 24 and 31 will also be considered days off for IAPE-represented Dow Jones staff in the United States, as “the days celebrated by the United States federal government” for the contract holidays Christmas and New Year’s Day.

IAPE-represented staff in Canada will have a short week next week, with the Christmas, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day holidays recognized on Dec. 27, 28 and 31, respectively.

Whichever side of the border you’re celebrating your holidays, we hope you are able to enjoy some well-deserved time off with loved ones. However, if you’re required to work, please remember to file for your Holiday Pay!

The collective agreement between IAPE and Dow Jones requires time-and-one-half for all regular hours worked on a holiday (double-time for extra hours) plus an additional day off in lieu of the holiday or an additional day’s pay.

The contract gives IAPE-represented employees the discretion to choose additional pay over an additional day off for all holidays worked after Jul. 3 in any calendar year. If you are assigned to work Friday—or, in Canada, on Monday or Tuesday—and you want extra pay instead of an additional day off, please inform your manager.

Because Dec. 31 is the recognized date for New Year’s Day, it is considered a 2022 holiday. For any work performed on that day, the discretion to choose extra pay or an extra day off reverts to your manager.

You may file for your Holiday Pay through Workday. If you have any questions about pay for working on a holiday or receiving your extra day’s pay or day off, please contact the IAPE office.

Tomorrow: Steward 101

With a little more than six months remaining in our current contract term, IAPE is looking to bolster its steward ranks ahead of 2022 negotiations. What’s a union steward? A steward can be IAPE’s eyes and ears in a department, sharing union and workplace information with members or with IAPE’s elected representatives and staff. A steward might help organize union events and activities or participate in committee planning. Stewards even assist other members during meetings with management and Human Resources!

If you’re interested in becoming an IAPE steward, we invite you to join us tomorrow afternoon, at 2:00 p.m. EST, for our Steward 101 class. This half-hour Zoom presentation is a great way for union members to learn more about the next level of IAPE participation.

Register on the IAPE Events page. Do you have questions about becoming a steward, but you aren’t available to attend tomorrow’s class? Reach out to IAPE rep Marlena Fitzpatrick for some individual Q&A!

Update Your IAPE Contact Info!
You’re likely receiving this message at your Dow Jones email address. There are times, especially during contract negotiations, when IAPE prefers to message members via their personal email accounts. Not all members have their current personal email address on file with IAPE, though. If you would like to add or update your non-DJ contact information with IAPE, please send your current email address in a reply to this note.

If you would like to add your mobile number for possible IAPE text messages during contract negotiations, please feel free to add that to your reply!

Update: NLRB Hearing Postponed

In September, we announced that the National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint against Dow Jones for failing to negotiate in good faith with IAPE. The NLRB originally set today, Dec. 7 as the date for the union, represented by the General Counsel of the NLRB, and the company to appear at trial before an Administrative Law Judge.

The General Counsel’s office has requested a postponement of this hearing. The trial is now scheduled to begin on Jan. 21, 2022.

An IAPE Reminder on Glint and Goal Setting

In an email from Karen Pensiero and Kate Ortega, IAPE-represented News personnel have been advised they should participate in a “goal-setting exercise” via Glint, the platform Dow Jones used last year to conduct performance evaluations. Reporters and editors have been asked to provide “two to three new goals” before Friday, Nov. 26.

We expect other departments will deliver similar requests to employees soon.

We want to remind all IAPE-represented employees of the union’s position, recognized by Dow Jones, on setting goals and self-assessments. 

First, as they were last year, self-assessments are still optional. Second, entering your own goals is also a voluntary exercise. The addition of goals is considered part of “Employee Prep,” all of which was labeled in last year’s Glint introduction documents as “optional.”

We realize these employee/manager discussions are often employees’ best opportunities to talk about goals, expectations, performance and pay. IAPE is not opposed to members setting their own goals—we simply want you to know that you are not required to submit yours if you would rather have your manager set those targets for you.

If you do decide to provide your own goals, please know you are under no obligation to admit any shortcomings. A better approach may be offering suggestions your manager can follow to help you meet performance targets.

We continue to believe that setting expectations and evaluating performance are management functions, but we also want to be clear that this should not in any way prevent you from having constructive conversations with your boss about your future at Dow Jones.

Finally, we would like to remind you that Article XXI of the IAPE/DJ collective agreement states, “The Company and the Union agree that performance evaluations under this Article shall not be considered disciplinary actions.” That’s important—IAPE-represented employees are always entitled to union representation during disciplinary meetings, and Article XI of the contract requires at least three hours’ advance notice of disciplinary meetings (except “in the event of exigent circumstances”). A discussion of disciplinary action should not occur during a meeting to talk about goals or expectations.

If your manager ever invites you to a disciplinary meeting, please contact an IAPE director or steward, or email union@iape1096.org for assistance.

Physical Fitness Reimbursement Deadline Nov. 30
Another reminder from IAPE—the deadline for submitting physical fitness reimbursement claims for the 2021 benefit year is Tuesday, Nov. 30.

Full-time or regular part-time employees represented by IAPE can receive up to $600 of the employee-only costs of physical fitness activities and memberships ranging from health club memberships and personal trainers to entry fees for road races and tennis court fees. For the 2021 benefit year, IAPE-represented employees also may claim expenses for purchases of home gym equipment dating back to Jan. 1, 2020.

Gym equipment purchases will not be eligible for reimbursement in 2022.

You may request reimbursement by logging into www.wageworks.com and submitting your request or by completing a reimbursement request form available on the Dow Jones HR Hub. Expenses must be submitted to WageWorks by Nov. 30 to count towards the 2021 limit and to be reimbursed by the end of that calendar year.

Any expenses submitted after Nov. 30 will count toward the maximum benefit payable for the 2022 benefit year. Reimbursements from the Physical Fitness Program will be included on your Form W-2 as taxable income and will be subject to withholding taxes.

If you have any questions about your eligibility for this benefit or whether an activity fee is covered, please contact WageWorks at 877-924-3967.

Happy Thanksgiving From IAPE!

It’s Thanksgiving on Thursday, and the officers, directors and staff of IAPE would like to extend best wishes to our members working in the United States for a safe and happy Thanksgiving. IAPE staffers will be away from their phones and inboxes on Thursday and Friday, but will be back at work bright and early on Monday morning.

If you are not scheduled to work on Thursday, we hope you enjoy your holiday. If you are required to work, please remember to file for your Holiday Pay!

The collective agreement between IAPE and Dow Jones requires time-and-one-half for all regular hours worked on a holiday (double-time for extra hours) plus an additional day off in lieu of the holiday or an additional day’s pay.

The contract gives IAPE-represented employees the discretion to choose additional pay over an additional day off for all holidays worked after July 3rd in any calendar year. If you are assigned to work Thursday and you want extra pay instead of an additional day off, please inform your manager.

You may file for your Holiday Pay through Workday. If you have any questions about pay for working on a holiday or receiving your extra day’s pay or day off (again, your choice), please contact the IAPE office.

Today: IAPE 101
When you were hired by Dow Jones, were you surprised to learn that you were a union-represented employee? Have you ever wondered about your rights as a union member? If you have a half-hour to spare today at 2:00 p.m. EST, please join us for the next installment of IAPE 101 and see if we can answer your questions.

IAPE 101 is a Zoom presentation addressing the basics of IAPE membership: What is a union? How does IAPE function? How does IAPE fit into Dow Jones? What are the benefits of union membership? All these questions and more will be covered in this class, perfect for those brand new to IAPE, or even for veteran members interested in learning more about their union. All members are welcome; register today on the IAPE Events page.

2022 CWA Scholarship
IAPE’s parent union, the Communications Workers of America (CWA), is pleased to announce the CWA Joe Beirne Foundation has approved the awarding of 16 partial college scholarships of $4,000 each for two years. Eligible for the scholarships for the 2022-23 academic year are CWA members, their spouses, children, and grandchildren, including the dependents of retired, laid-off, or deceased members. Applications are available online for submission on the Foundation’s website at http://cwa-union.org/beirne-application. 

Final deadline for applications is 11:59 p.m., EDT, April 30, 2022. Applications are easy to complete online, including submission of a short, original essay. When applying, please note your “Member District” is District 1, and your “Member Local” is 1096.

Winners will be chosen in a lottery drawing.

The Joe Beirne Scholarship Program honors CWA’s founding president, who served in that capacity for more than 30 years. Joe Beirne took great pride in the roles he played in furthering educational opportunity and working for social justice.

This Week: General Membership Meeting

Join IAPE President Jodi Green on Wednesday or Thursday for some union conversation and Q&A. We’ll talk about 2022 open enrollment, look ahead to next year’s Dow Jones contract negotiations and provide an update of discussions with the company over Covid relief and plans for returning to Dow Jones office spaces.

Members have two Zoom sessions to choose from: Wednesday, Nov. 10 at 2:00 p.m. EST or Thursday, Nov. 11 at 2:00 p.m. EST. Both meetings are scheduled for one hour, but we’ll have plenty of time for questions.

Meetings are open to IAPE-represented employees at all locations. To receive your Zoom link to attend, please register on the IAPE Events Page.

In Two Weeks: IAPE 101
When you were hired by Dow Jones, were you surprised to learn that you were a union-represented employee? Have you ever wondered about your rights as a union member? If you have a half-hour to spare on Tuesday, Nov. 23 at 2:00 p.m. EST, please join us for the next installment of IAPE 101 and see if we can answer your questions.

IAPE 101 is a Zoom presentation addressing the basics of IAPE membership: What is a union? How does IAPE function? How does IAPE fit into Dow Jones? What are the benefits of union membership? All these questions and more will be covered in this class, perfect for those brand new to IAPE, or even for veteran members interested in learning more about their union. All members are welcome; register today on the IAPE Events page.

2021 Pay Raises: Were You Above Average?

Rates of pay for IAPE-represented employees increased, on average, by 4.98% in 2021. That’s the takeaway from an IAPE review of pay data since July 1, the effective date for the union’s negotiated pay raises.

Overall, 471 IAPE-represented employees received 2021 pay increases above minimum raises required by the IAPE/DJ contract.

An examination of new Dow Jones-provided pay data showed 1,328 IAPE-represented employees were entitled to a union-negotiated pay increase in July. Approximately 56% of those employees received the minimum percentage raise of 2.75%, boosted from the negotiated rate of 2.5% as a result of the IAPE/DJ contract’s “upside protection” clause.

The rest of the bargaining unit received larger pay hikes, either through negotiated minimum-dollar or scale increases, discretionary raises, possible pay equity adjustments or raises as a result of promotions.

IAPE also looked at pay increase rates by gender, while noting that salaries vary significantly from title to title. The union found the average pay increase for female IAPE-represented employees in 2021 was 5.20%, while the average rate for male bargaining unit employees was 4.76%. However, average and median weekly dollar increases for those female employees were $81.73 and $56.11, respectively. Average and median weekly raises for males were $86.65 and $64.89.

(Note: IAPE plans on taking a fresh, detailed look at gaps in pay across lines of gender and ethnicity, similar to earlier IAPE projects in 2016, 2017 and 2019. Watch for that report in the New Year.)

The review of 2021 pay data also highlighted 189 union-represented employees requested and received an individual IAPE pay review between January and June of this year. Members often request individual reviews prior to initiating salary discussions with their managers.

In 2021, more than half of the employees who asked for an IAPE pay review received a pay increase in excess of the 2.75% compensatory increase.

To request your own personal salary review, please contact IAPE at payreview@iape1096.org.

Next Week: General Membership Meeting
Join IAPE President Jodi Green next week for some union conversation and Q&A. We’ll talk about 2022 open enrollment, a look ahead to next year’s Dow Jones contract negotiations and an update of discussions with the company over Covid relief and plans for returning to Dow Jones office spaces.

Members have two Zoom sessions to choose from: Wednesday, Nov. 10 at 2:00 p.m. EST or Thursday, Nov. 11 at 2:00 p.m. EST. Both meetings are scheduled for one hour, but we’ll have plenty of time for questions.

Meetings are open to IAPE-represented employees at all locations. To receive your Zoom link to attend, please register on the IAPE Events Page.

Today: IAPE 101 - Job Security
If you have an hour to spare this afternoon (or this morning, if you’re on the west coast), please join us for our IAPE Contract 101 class at 2:00 p.m. EDT. We’ll focus on job security, just cause protections against discipline, layoffs and seniority. Visit the IAPE Events Page to register.

If you’re curious about your own seniority within your department, remember, you can always contact the IAPE office to find out more about your seniority protection.

Our Pumpkin Contest Winners!
Congratulations to Princeton member Kirti Mahajan and New York member Angela Calderon, winners of last week’s Great IAPE Pumpkin contest. Kirti’s photo submission was voted best in the “carved pumpkin” category, while Angela’s photos received top “painted pumpkin” honors. Kirti and Angela each received first-prize $50 gift cards.

Thanks to all IAPE members who participated in our Halloween contest!

Last Chance: The Great IAPE Pumpkin Contest

In case you missed earlier IAPE notes (and it would be understandable, buried beneath weightier messages about seniority and Covid proposals), today is the final day to submit your entry for The Great IAPE Pumpkin Contest.

If you or your loved ones have amazing pumpkin decorating skills, or are a whiz with a jack-o-lantern carving knife, you have until 3:00 p.m. EDT today to share your best work with other IAPE members and win a prize!

We want to display our members’ creativity for all to see. Email photos of painted and carved pumpkins to union@iape1096.org. We’ll feature them in upcoming posts on IAPE Twitter, Instagram and Facebook feeds. Our panel of IAPE judges will determine the most impressive member submissions, and will award a $50 gift card to the best in each category: decorated or carved.

Winners will be announced tomorrow, National Pumpkin Day!

Happy Wag-o-Ween from Union Plus
In keeping with the Halloween spirit, Union Plus is celebrating union members’ best friends with a photo contest!

To enter the Union Plus Wag-o-Ween Contest, submit a photo of your cat or dog in costume. Entries must be submitted between Oct. 21 and Oct. 31. Union Plus will select the finalists, and union members from across the United States will vote on winners between Nov. 5 and Nov. 10. Two winners will each win a $500 Grand Prize and ten First Prize winners will receive $50!

Only cat or dog submissions from union members in good standing and retired union members will be eligible to win. Enter now!

Desk Items in Storage? Reclaim Them Today!
Members in New York, Princeton and Washington, if you had personal items from your desk packed and stored by Dow Jones Facilities, you have until today to reclaim your items!

IAPE recommends searching your inbox for an email from Dow Jones's Workplace Design Team, which should have been received on or about Oct. 12. This email has a prepopulated request form for you to fill out. If you cannot find that email, please use the form linked here. To claim your items you must complete this form before tomorrow.

By filling out the form, you can have your packed boxes in storage delivered to your home by Certified, Dow Jones's professional moving company. Your items will be shipped in November— they will not be returned to the office.

Unclaimed personal items will be discarded.

IAPE 101 - Nov. 3
The next IAPE Contract 101 class will be held on Nov. 3 at 2:00 p.m. EDT. We’ll focus on job security, just cause protections against discipline, layoffs and seniority. Visit the IAPE Events Page to register.

If you’re curious about your own seniority within your department, remember, you can always contact the IAPE office to find out more about your seniority protection.

New Proposals for Workplace Returns

On Oct. 15, IAPE reps met with Dow Jones officials and presented a new set of pandemic proposals addressing remote work and eventual returns to company workplaces. New proposals from the union cover health and safety concerns and union rights to negotiate over compulsory in-office assignments, as well as notice to employees when potential exposure to Covid-19 cases exist.

IAPE also proposed a requirement for “proof of full vaccination against Coronavirus for all Employees, vendors and guests who wish to enter a Dow Jones facility.”

The latest union document also repeats demands first presented one year ago seeking monthly stipends for home internet service and reimbursement of up to $750 per employee for home office expenses—proposals Dow Jones has yet to address.

The company’s failure to negotiate over IAPE proposals from October of 2020 prompted the National Labor Relations Board to issue a complaint against Dow Jones in September.

IAPE “Attends” Union Conventions
IAPE reps Jodi Green, Patricia Corley and Tim Martell joined their union siblings from across the continent this week to attend virtual conventions of our parent unions, The NewsGuild and the Communications Workers of America. Originally planned to be held in New Orleans, both meetings were moved to Zoom due to the ongoing pandemic.

IAPE’s delegates were active participants in the sector conference of The NewsGuild, with Green serving as a member of the union’s credentials committee, while Martell was elected as an alternate on TNG’s election committee.

NewsGuild members were at the forefront of the convention as CWA constitutional amendments, proposed by Guild members, addressing harassment and discrimination were overwhelmingly approved by union delegates. During the preceding TNG sector conference, members also adopted a resolution requiring local union officers to “take self-guided or guided anti-discrimination and anti-harassment training in the first three months of each term in office.” Both measures were proposed in response to disturbing news last year involving allegations of misconduct by a former president of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh.

The next conventions are scheduled—fingers crossed—for the summer of 2023 in St. Louis.

Contract Ratified in Bowling Green
On Oct. 14, IAPE members at The Wall Street Journal printing plant in Bowling Green, OH voted 7-1 to approve a new, two-year collective agreement.

The new deal provides for 2% pay increases retroactive to Jul. 1 as well as lump-sum payments of 0.75% of each employee’s pay as of Jul. 1. Effective Jul. 1, 2022, wages will increase again by 2%. Minimum salaries have also been increased.

Juneteenth will be a contract-recognized holiday beginning in 2022 and employees will be excused from work early on evenings prior to a requirement to serve jury duty.

The Great IAPE Pumpkin Contest!
Do you have amazing pumpkin decorating skills? Are you a whiz with a jack-o-lantern carving knife? You still have a few days left to share your best work with other IAPE members and win a prize!

We want to display our members’ creativity for all to see. Email photos of your or your loved ones’ painted and carved pumpkins to union@iape1096.org. We’ll feature them in upcoming posts on IAPE Twitter, Instagram and Facebook feeds. Our panel of IAPE judges will determine the most impressive member submissions, and will award a $50 gift card to the best in each category: decorated or carved. Deadline for entries is Oct. 25 at 3:00 PM EDT.

Winners will be announced on Oct. 26, National Pumpkin Day!

Happy Wag-o-Ween from Union Plus!
In keeping with the Halloween spirit, Union Plus is celebrating union members’ best friends with a photo contest!

To enter the Union Plus Wag-o-Ween Contest, submit a photo of your cat or dog in costume. Entries must be submitted between Oct. 21 and Oct. 31. Union Plus will select the finalists, and union members from across the United States will vote on winners between Nov. 5 and Nov. 10. Two winners will each win a $500 Grand Prize and ten First Prize winners will receive $50!

Only cat or dog submissions from union members in good standing and retired union members will be eligible to win. Enter now!

Join us for Contract 101 - Job Security
The next IAPE Contract 101 class will be held on Nov. 3 at 2:00 p.m. EDT. We’ll focus on job security, just cause protections against discipline, layoffs and seniority. Visit the IAPE Events Page to register.

If you’re curious about your own seniority within your department, remember, you can always contact the IAPE office to find out more about your seniority protection.

Layoffs and Seniority: Your “Department” Matters

Seniority is a bedrock right of the labor movement. In a union-represented environment, the presence of a seniority clause within a contract generally means employees with longer tenure have greater protection when a company chooses to eliminate positions through layoff. 

Seniority protection rewards experienced employees, often those with higher salaries, for their loyalty to a company and protects those staffers from being targeted for economic layoffs when an employer seeks a quick and easy way to save money through workforce reductions.

The collective agreement between IAPE and Dow Jones contains a seniority clause, but it has loopholes that have left some members vulnerable to layoff even though they aren’t the most junior employees. That’s because seniority applies at the department level, and how Dow Jones defines your work group can have significant ramifications for whether you’re protected.

Under the terms of the IAPE/DJ contract, seniority groups are determined by reviewing hire dates of employees with the same title, working in the same department and assigned to the same location. However, a department is defined as “the area of the Company in which the Employee in question works and which is supervised by a Department Head who reports to a Manager at a level equivalent to a Vice President or a Deputy to a Vice President.”

Practically what this means is this: You may have a job similar to a colleague who has less service time, but you still may be exposed to an economic layoff if you work under different managers. Customer Service Associates assigned to the Customer Service - Consumer department aren’t all part of the same seniority group. Their seniority protection is determined according to which of the eight Customer Service department heads supervise their work. The same is true for sales staff working under one of five department heads in Direct Sales, Reporters and Special Writers assigned to one of five department heads in Life & Work, or Software Engineers working under five department heads in WSJ Mobile.

We could go on.

The “department” issue has long been a problem for IAPE. The company’s ability to determine department structures gives management significant discretion in reducing seniority protection. We’ve seen exactly this all too often.

Closing contract loopholes can only be achieved through the collective bargaining process. When the union and the company will negotiate a successor contract next year, you can be sure that IAPE will attempt to strengthen job security through the modification of existing contract language.

In the meantime, we encourage IAPE members to be aware of their own seniority protection. If you’re considering a move to a new team, find out exactly what the department structure is for that group, and how your seniority protection will be affected. If you’re unsure of your seniority standing within your current department, find out who the department head is for your group. If you require assistance, IAPE can provide your seniority ranking relative to other employees reporting to the same department head.

Contract 101: Job Security
You can learn more about seniority and other contract job security protections when IAPE hosts its next Contract 101 class on Nov. 3. The Contract 101 series is a great way to learn more about the IAPE/DJ agreement, especially as we seek suggestions for contract improvements before we return to the bargaining table next year.

To enroll, visit the IAPE Events page. This class is virtual, Zoom links will be emailed to all participants on the day of the class.

The Great IAPE Pumpkin Contest!
Do you have amazing pumpkin decorating skills? Are you a whiz with a jack-o-lantern carving knife? Share your best work with other IAPE members and win a prize!

We want to display our members’ creativity for all to see. Email photos of your or your loved ones’ painted and carved pumpkins to union@iape1096.org. We’ll feature them in upcoming posts on IAPE Twitter, Instagram and Facebook feeds. Our panel of IAPE judges will determine the most impressive member submissions, and will award a $50 gift card to the best in each category: decorated or carved. Deadline for entries is Oct. 25 at 3:00 PM EDT.

Winners will be announced on Oct. 26, National Pumpkin Day!