Contract 101 - Job Security

The IAPE Contract 101 series is a great way to learn more about the collective agreement, especially as the union prepares proposals for contract improvements to be presented during negotiations this year.

The next edition of IAPE’s Contract 101 will be held on Tuesday, May 23 at 2:00 p.m. EDT and will focus on job security, just cause protections, layoffs and seniority.

Visit the IAPE Events Page to register for this Zoom presentation.

In light of News Corp plans to cut staff throughout the calendar year, members may appreciate a deeper understanding of how the IAPE contract protects employees from arbitrary layoffs. It can also be helpful to be aware of your contractual rights when a manager delivers a surprise invitation to an investigatory or disciplinary meeting.

Join your colleagues and IAPE representatives next Tuesday!

Join our Elections Committee!

It’s an election year!

The term of office for elected representatives on the IAPE Board of Directors expires on Nov. 30 and IAPE members will vote to select a new Board later this year. Before that can happen, IAPE needs to form an Elections Committee of regular members, working closely with IAPE staff, to oversee the triennial election process.

The union’s Bylaws state, “The Local’s Officers, incumbent Directors and nominees are ineligible for membership on this committee.” This is a perfect opportunity for anyone interested in volunteering for a union committee for the first time.

If you are interested in learning more about the IAPE Elections Committee and how you can help ensure the union’s 2023 elections run smoothly, please email union@iape1096.org.

Contract Trivia: Vacation Sale

Congratulations to New York member Matthew Riva, today’s winner of our 2023 trivia contest and a $50 prize. Matthew’s entry was selected from several correct responses to last week’s question about vacation time: full-time employees must attain six years of service in order to attain five weeks of paid vacation time (see Article IX - Vacations, Section B).

We’re going to stick with the vacation section of our contract for this week’s question. We fully recognize that some people, for whatever reason, just are not able to use all their vacation time during a calendar year. And while most members who find themselves in that situation simply lose their time at the end of the year, there is a small segment of the IAPE membership who have the ability to sell one week of vacation time back to Dow Jones.

Which two qualifications must an IAPE-represented employee meet in order to have a contractual right to sell a week of vacation time back to Dow Jones & Company?

Think you know? Email your response to union@iape1096.org. Not sure? Scroll through our contract posted on the IAPE website to find the relevant section. Members in good standing* will have until Thursday at midnight to find the answer within the current collective agreement between IAPE and Dow Jones, and email that answer back to us. Next Friday, one winner will be selected at random from all the correct responses, and that winning member will receive a $50 prize from IAPE.

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*The IAPE contract trivia question is a weekly contest for members of the IAPE/DJ bargaining unit in the United States and Canada, working under the terms of the collective agreement between Dow Jones & Company Inc. and the Independent Association of Publishers’ Employees (IAPE) TNG/CWA Local 1096, AFL-CIO,CLC, in effect from July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023. IAPE officers, IAPE directors, IAPE staff, fee-paying non-members and non-members in right-to-work states (or new employees not yet paying dues to IAPE) are not eligible for prizes. Contest period lasts through 11:59 PM Eastern Time each Thursday. On Friday, one winner will be selected from the previous week’s correct answers by a random drawing. Winners are limited to one prize every thirty days.

Thursday: IAPE Town Hall

A Kickoff to Contract Bargaining!

Join IAPE President Jodi Green, Executive Director Tim Martell, Administrative Officer Kaitlyn Frarey and other IAPE representatives on Thursday, May 11 for a union town hall meeting and preview of upcoming contract negotiations with Dow Jones.

Two one-hour sessions are scheduled: 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. EDT and 2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. EDT. To receive your Zoom link and attend one of these meetings, register on the IAPE Events page.

Hear how IAPE’s Board of Directors have been preparing to bargain for a new contract and how your responses to membership surveys conducted earlier this year have influenced union proposals.

IAPE reps will also discuss recent changes to in-office work plans and—for members in New York—the company’s decision to implement desk-sharing across all departments. Questions from members on all topics are welcome, especially if you would like to email yours in advance.

See you Thursday!

Performance “Conversations”
Earlier today, Dow Jones employees received a memo from CPO Dianne DeSevo announcing the beginning of “year-end performance conversations,” otherwise known as annual performance evaluations. Ms. DeSevo properly noted that the self-assessment portion of your evaluation is optional.

That’s good.

For many years, IAPE has taken the position that evaluating an employee’s performance is a management function. However, the union also recognizes that the performance evaluation process is an employee’s only opportunity to have an informed discussion with their manager about goals, expectations, performance and pay.

Our recommendation: if you want to participate in this process by providing a description of your own achievements, please do. Nobody can describe your successes and accomplishments better than you. We continue to believe that performance evaluations should be prepared by managers, but we also want to be clear that this should not in any way stop you from helping that process by singing your own praises.

If you plan on discussing your compensation with your manager, you may be interested in requesting an IAPE pay review. Using confirmed pay data from Dow Jones, your IAPE pay specialist can show you how you rank compared to peers in the same title, department, location, age range and tenure.

Depending on the backlog of requests, an IAPE pay review can take up to a week to complete. If you’re interested in receiving an analysis of your pay before speaking with your manager, ask IAPE for a review today.

Contract Trivia: Vacation Time

Congratulations to Washington member Tyler Parsels, the latest winner of our 2023 trivia contest and a $50 prize. Tyler’s entry was selected from several correct responses to the Apr. 21 question about union leaves of absence. He knew that members of the IAPE Board of Directors may take up to two days of unpaid leave each to attend the union’s biennial Board of Directors meetings (see Article XIII - Leaves of Absence, Section B).

There was no trivia question last Friday as we took a week off to prepare for and attend those union meetings. And now that the calendar has turned to May, we hope you have been able to take a week or two off or are planning to make use of your vacation time sometime soon. Vacation benefits negotiated and guaranteed by the IAPE contract have among the most-accelerated entitlements among NewsGuild peers—which brings us to this week’s question:

How many years of continuous service must full-time employees attain to earn five weeks of paid vacation time?

Think you know? Email your response to union@iape1096.org. Not sure? Scroll through our contract posted on the IAPE website to find the relevant section. Members in good standing* will have until Thursday at midnight  to find the answer within the current collective agreement between IAPE and Dow Jones, and email that answer back to us. This Friday, one winner will be selected at random from all the correct responses, and that winning member will receive a $50 prize from IAPE.

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*The IAPE contract trivia question is a weekly contest for members of the IAPE/DJ bargaining unit in the United States and Canada, working under the terms of the collective agreement between Dow Jones & Company Inc. and the Independent Association of Publishers’ Employees (IAPE) TNG/CWA Local 1096, AFL-CIO,CLC, in effect from July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023. IAPE officers, IAPE directors, IAPE staff, fee-paying non-members and non-members in right-to-work states (or new employees not yet paying dues to IAPE) are not eligible for prizes. Contest period lasts through 11:59 PM Eastern Time each Thursday. On Friday, one winner will be selected from the previous week’s correct answers by a random drawing. Winners are limited to one prize every thirty days.

Sixty Days: IAPE Demands Negotiations

The collective bargaining agreement between IAPE and Dow Jones is set to expire on June 30, 2023. Article XXVI of that agreement states, “Negotiations for the renewal, modification or extension of this contract may be instituted by either party within sixty (60) days prior to its expiration.”

Yesterday, IAPE President Jodi Green delivered to Dow Jones management a notice announcing the union’s intention to negotiate a new contract with Dow Jones. Late yesterday afternoon, Dow Jones responded: “Letter received Jodi. We’ll be in touch with our response.”

IAPE looks forward to a productive season of negotiations toward an agreement addressing the needs of all IAPE-represented employees.

Return to Office: More People, More Days?
This morning, management advised the union it intends to require more employees to work from Dow Jones office space three days per week. With certain exceptions—notably Data Strategy, Finance GFO, most groups within Customer Service and some staff in WSJ Print Services—the company will communicate an expectation for employees to work in-office three days per week.

The union’s Board of Directors is reviewing this announcement, along with company plans to discontinue Covid guidelines and the process for requesting in-office exceptions. Employees will now be required to submit a request for an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Request for Accommodation form.

The union expects to meet and discuss these plans with Dow Jones management very soon.

1211 AOA Desk Space
Last week, IAPE representatives met with WSJ News management and representatives from Dow Jones Legal to hear more details about plans for desk hoteling at the company’s New York offices.

As a result of the loss of space on the ninth floor at 1211 AOA, management has announced plans for New York staff to share desk space, with a requirement to reserve desks in advance using the iOffice portal.

Feedback received from IAPE members working in New York suggests this is a less-than-popular idea.

IAPE has shared with management the overwhelmingly negative responses received through member surveys and has delivered counter-proposals to the company. Those include dedicated desk space for employees with consistent equipment set-up needs due to production or ergonomic requirements, dedicated desk space for employees who consistently work at least three days per week from the office, and an elimination of in-office mandates for News employees involved in production, but not reporting—including publishing editors, platform editors, newsletter editors and rewrite editors.

The union is awaiting a response from the company.

Layoffs . . . Again
As Dow Jones slithers along toward meeting the announced News Corp goal of an elimination of five percent of staff during this calendar year, the company has delivered additional layoff notices to the union.

In addition to the announced slashing of 22 positions on Jan. 11, Dow Jones advised IAPE of four layoffs on Mar. 16 and three position eliminations on Apr. 18. Last Thursday, the company delivered ten new layoff notices to the union.

All recent position eliminations have been logged on the union’s website layoff page. If you have questions about the layoff process, please contact IAPE.

Contract Trivia: Union Leave

Congratulations to Princeton member Daria Pettus, this week’s winner of our 2023 trivia contest and a $50 prize. Daria’s entry was selected from several correct responses to Monday’s question about probation periods for new employees: Dow Jones has nine months (excluding any periods of disability) from the date of hiring to discharge an employee without risking a grievance from the union (see Article VI - Job Security, Section A).

As we get closer and closer to the expiry date of the current contract between IAPE and Dow Jones, the union’s Board of Directors is busily reviewing current contract language and draft proposals for a new agreement. Next weekend, IAPE directors will gather in New York for the biennial meeting of the IAPE Board where the contract will be a key topic for discussion. The contract actually provides union directors with the ability to take time away from work to attend union meetings.

Under the terms of the IAPE/DJ contract, how many days of unpaid leave may IAPE directors take to attend biennial Board of Directors’ meetings?

hink you know? Email your response to union@iape1096.org. Not sure? Scroll through our contract posted on the IAPE website to find the relevant section. Members in good standing* will have until Thursday at midnight  to find the answer within the current collective agreement between IAPE and Dow Jones, and email that answer back to us. This Friday, one winner will be selected at random from all the correct responses, and that winning member will receive a $50 prize from IAPE.

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*The IAPE contract trivia question is a weekly contest for members of the IAPE/DJ bargaining unit in the United States and Canada, working under the terms of the collective agreement between Dow Jones & Company Inc. and the Independent Association of Publishers’ Employees (IAPE) TNG/CWA Local 1096, AFL-CIO,CLC, in effect from July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023. IAPE officers, IAPE directors, IAPE staff, fee-paying non-members and non-members in right-to-work states (or new employees not yet paying dues to IAPE) are not eligible for prizes. Contest period lasts through 11:59 PM Eastern Time each Thursday. On Friday, one winner will be selected from the previous week’s correct answers by a random drawing. Winners are limited to one prize every thirty days.

Contract Trivia: Probation

Congratulations to Princeton member Laurie Avino, Friday’s winner of our 2023 trivia contest and a $50 prize. Laurie’s entry was selected from several correct responses to our April 7th question: the IAPE contract recognizes the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for purposes of determining overtime eligibility (see Article II - Hours and Overtime, Section E).

On to this week’s question (delayed, due to Friday’s recap of IAPE news).

One of the most important provisions in any Union contract is protection against termination without just and sufficient cause. However, many collective bargaining agreements also contain a window of time, sometimes referred to as a “probationary period,” during which a Company may decide a new employee simply isn’t the right person for a particular job.

Under the terms of the IAPE/DJ contract, how much time does Dow Jones management have to discharge a newly hired employee without risking a grievance from the Union?

Think you know? Email your response to union@iape1096.org. Not sure? Scroll through our contract posted on the IAPE website to find the relevant section. Members in good standing* will have until Thursday at midnight  to find the answer within the current collective agreement between IAPE and Dow Jones, and email that answer back to us. This Friday, one winner will be selected at random from all the correct responses, and that winning member will receive a $50 prize from IAPE.

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*The IAPE contract trivia question is a weekly contest for members of the IAPE/DJ bargaining unit in the United States and Canada, working under the terms of the collective agreement between Dow Jones & Company Inc. and the Independent Association of Publishers’ Employees (IAPE) TNG/CWA Local 1096, AFL-CIO,CLC, in effect from July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023. IAPE officers, IAPE directors, IAPE staff, fee-paying non-members and non-members in right-to-work states (or new employees not yet paying dues to IAPE) are not eligible for prizes. Contest period lasts through 11:59 PM Eastern Time each Thursday. On Friday, one winner will be selected from the previous week’s correct answers by a random drawing. Winners are limited to one prize every thirty days.

Washington Members Support Evan

IAPE Week in Review

On Wednesday, IAPE representatives in Washington organized a demonstration to support jailed WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich outside the World Bank building where International Monetary Fund meetings were taking place.

WSJ staffers were joined by journalists and NewsGuild members from the Forward, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Reuters to send a message to delegates and make their case to reporters and photographers covering the global financial meeting.

In an interview with AFP, IAPE Treasurer Austen Hufford said, “we just want the world to know that we’re thinking about Evan, that we want him to be released, that journalism is not a crime and that he was doing nothing wrong.”

IAPE’s DC team has kindly shared these photos from Wednesday’s protest:

Show us Your Buttons!
On Tuesday, IAPE President Jodi Green and Administrative Officer Kaitlyn Frarey met with members in New York and handed out “Free Evan Now” buttons, as well as IAPE coffee mugs and notebooks. Buttons from IAPE have now been distributed in New York, Washington and San Francisco, and are being delivered to other bureaus.

To continue displaying support for Evan Gershkovich, IAPE encourages all members to share images widely on their preferred social media platforms.

Join the Pride Caucus at CWA!
The Pride Caucus at IAPE’s parent union, the Communications Workers of America, recently relaunched and is inviting queer and allied members of the CWA family to join. Interested IAPE members can register here.

As its first item of new business, the Caucus has drafted a petition calling on allied legislators in the House and Senate to join CWA in the fight to end trans genocide. Please sign and share!

How do you Identify?
Since we’re on the subject, if you haven’t submitted a response to IAPE’s short survey on how you identify, we invite you to participate. As of now, we’ve received a relatively low response rate of a little less than 160 out of 1,400+ union-represented employees.

Staff received inquiries from IAPE-represented employees with interest in finding out how their gender expression and/or gender identity may impact areas such as performance reviews, pay increases, and other workplace concerns. With the limited responses thus far, it would be difficult to extrapolate any possible connections between this self-reported data and the areas of interest, but we hope with your help we can continue to compile aggregate data to improve what information we can provide.

As always, if you have workplace questions or suggestions for how the union can better support you, feel free to send us an email at union@iape1096.org.

IAPE Trivia - Postponed
The weekly IAPE Contract Trivia Contest has been postponed for today and will return on Monday morning.

Contract Trivia: Working Overtime

Congratulations to New York member Christina Masso-Gonzalez, today’s winner of our 2023 trivia contest and a $50 prize. Christina’s entry was selected from several correct responses to our question from Monday: incentive payments must be paid within three months of being earned as defined in the respective incentive plan (see Article XXIV - Miscellaneous, Section F).

We hope everyone saw Wednesday’s update announcing that a grievance over automatic cash out of comp time has finally been resolved. Comp time is available to employees who are considered exempt from overtime when they are assigned work on a scheduled day off. This rule does not apply to all IAPE-represented employees. In fact, slightly more than half of all bargaining unit employees are considered overtime-eligible. And that brings us to this week’s contract question:

Which U.S. federal statute does the IAPE contract recognize for purposes of determining overtime eligibility?

Think you know? Email your response to union@iape1096.org. Not sure? Scroll through our contract posted on the IAPE website to find the relevant section. Members in good standing* will have until Thursday at midnight  to find the answer within the current collective agreement between IAPE and Dow Jones, and email that answer back to us. This Friday, one winner will be selected at random from all the correct responses, and that winning member will receive a $50 prize from IAPE.

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*The IAPE contract trivia question is a weekly contest for members of the IAPE/DJ bargaining unit in the United States and Canada, working under the terms of the collective agreement between Dow Jones & Company Inc. and the Independent Association of Publishers’ Employees (IAPE) TNG/CWA Local 1096, AFL-CIO,CLC, in effect from July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023. IAPE officers, IAPE directors, IAPE staff, fee-paying non-members and non-members in right-to-work states (or new employees not yet paying dues to IAPE) are not eligible for prizes. Contest period lasts through 11:59 PM Eastern Time each Thursday. On Friday, one winner will be selected from the previous week’s correct answers by a random drawing. Winners are limited to one prize every thirty days.