Bargaining Update: You Think YOU’RE Disappointed . . .

Bargaining Continues on #TshirtTuesday

Contract negotiations between IAPE and Dow Jones continued today, with the union presenting a new proposal document to the company.

Management was disappointed.

They were disappointed that IAPE would insist on negotiating over advances in artificial intelligence, and how new processes might impact bargaining unit employees. “These are forms of automation,” Dow Jones representatives told the union bargaining committee. “These are core management functions.”

They were disappointed that IAPE would preserve so many of its proposals in this new document—or consider items from IAPE’s original proposal to be “important” despite management’s reluctance to engage on topics like increases to retirement plan contributions, or comp time for extraordinary hours of work, or carryover of vacation time.

They were disappointed that IAPE would reject company proposals to weaken job security “out of hand,” even though management has similarly refused union proposals to protect jobs by changing how seniority is determined.

They were disappointed IAPE had not developed a proposal addressing company plans to shift healthcare costs onto employees, even though last week’s company presentation required months of preparation by News Corp’s benefits team.

They were disappointed IAPE would indicate a willingness to accept—or “cherry pick”—Dow Jones proposals to reimburse for doula services or cover out-of-network mental health services at in-network rates, without realizing all company health insurance proposals are part of a single package.

And they were extremely disappointed that IAPE held fast on a proposal to increase wages by 15% in the first year of the contract. Because, after all, Dow Jones provided the union with a good faith, 3% offer on raises during a bargaining meeting last week.

Gosh, that’s a shame.

Perhaps management fails to realize how disappointed IAPE members were to receive that 3% offer, given recent Dow Jones performance results. Maybe they don’t realize that a 15% wage offer—as ambitious as it might seem—is not at all unrealistic when compared with other recent NewsGuild contract settlements (which the company says we shouldn’t compare ourselves to), and with an eye toward cost of living increases and recent company performance.

Maybe they don’t realize how disappointed their employees—even those not represented by IAPE—are to face the uncertainty of layoffs each day, even though Dow Jones has “doubled its profitability over the past four years.” In fact, in their recent earnings call, News Corp management repeatedly highlighted these layoffs as a cost saving measure that delivered the company $160 million in annual gross savings. If you missed the call, you can replay the webcast for yourself.

It is possible they fail to realize that Dow Jones employees are tired of being recognized with platitudes during town hall meetings, and would prefer to have a strong contract with better benefits and real wage increases.

We think management will need to get over their disappointment.

Negotiations will continue on Tuesday, Aug. 22. That’s #TshirtTuesday. If you have an IAPE tee in your closet, be sure to wear it in support of the bargaining committee, whether you are working from home, in a Dow Jones office or out in the field. If you don’t have an IAPE shirt, any black or red item will do.

As always, please send us your contract feedback. Questions, comments or concerns are always welcome at union@iape1096.org.

Negotiations Postponed

A contract negotiation meeting between IAPE and Dow Jones scheduled to begin this morning at 10:00 a.m. EDT has been postponed at the union’s request. Bargaining will resume as scheduled on Thursday, Aug. 17.

IAPE canceled today’s meeting to allow the Board of Directors more time to review a management proposal from Aug. 8 and to finalize a union counter proposal.

Last week, Dow Jones presented proposals for health insurance for employees in the United States. The company also addressed wages for the first time, proposing a three percent raise for 2023.

IAPE opened negotiations on June 13 with a proposal to increase pay by 15% in the first year of the contract. A social media blitz by IAPE members on Aug. 10 highlighted strong company performance and cost of living as reasons why IAPE members deserve significantly higher pay raises than Dow Jones has proposed.

Tell us What You Think!
Does a three percent proposal resonate with you? Have you been surprised by any of management’s contract proposals? Would you like more information about any of IAPE’s proposals? Send us your feedback! Member comments are always welcome at union@iape1096.org.

Please also use that email address if you would like to volunteer to participate in our Contract Action Team, or if you are interested in digging into IAPE proposals on key topics like compensation or artificial intelligence. All members are welcome!

Storm Conditions Still Brewing

Dow Jones reports highest profit since News Corp acquisition

AI an “opportunity to create a new stream of revenues . . . reduce costs”

Thanks to all members who participated in yesterday’s IAPE “tweetstorm” intended to call attention to subpar wage proposals from Dow Jones management prior to the release of fourth quarter and full year fiscal results from News Corp.

Thousands of posts, reposts, likes and impressions of IAPE messages flooded X yesterday afternoon and evening. The gap that exists between IAPE and Dow Jones contract proposals suggests we’ll need to highlight positive company performance repeatedly as negotiations continue.

Yesterday’s News Corp call did nothing to dispel the notion that Dow Jones can afford to pay the IAPE-represented workforce what it is worth. In a prepared statement, CEO Robert Thomson said, “Dow Jones posted its highest profitability for both the quarter and the full year since we acquired the company.”

Thomson added, “Dow Jones doubled its profitability over the past four years,” and is “nearing a landmark moment with our lucrative B2B offerings expected to be the largest contributor to profitability in Fiscal 2024 and a key driver of future growth.”

While layoffs or "cost saving measures" were occurring at Dow Jones, full year revenues for the company increased by $149 million, a 7% increase over FY22 results. Segment EBITDA for fiscal 2023 increased $61 million, a 14% increase from last year.

More concerning were Thomson’s comments about how News Corp views artificial intelligence, saying that generative AI “presents a remarkable opportunity to create a new stream of revenues, while allowing us to reduce costs across the business.” Dow Jones has refused to respond to a union proposal to protect jobs from being displaced by generative AI.

IAPE looks forward to more glowing FY23 remarks from the Dow Jones leadership team.

The Storm of the Century
Yesterday’s tweetstorm was IAPE’s most successful social media campaign ever. So far. We undoubtedly will have more opportunities to call attention to gaps between Dow Jones and IAPE contract proposals, and we look forward to all IAPE members joining in those efforts.

In the meantime, we want to recognize members of the IAPE Contract Action Team in Washington for producing yesterday’s sample posts and graphics.

Our messages were clear: wages for Dow Jones employees have lagged behind—far behind—the cost of living. Dow Jones is a very profitable company and can afford to rectify that situation.

Once News Corp’s earnings were released, the CAT team updated one of its graphics to reflect Dow Jones EBITDA. If you haven’t seen it, we think you’ll find it interesting.

If you didn’t get a chance to post or repost yesterday, there is no reason you can’t take part today. Choose from one of yesterday’s sample messages, or share IAPE messaging from the News Corp call: 

• Dow Jones doubled profitability

• Robert Thomson on AI

• Full year revenue increase

• Dow Jones segment EBITDA

• When you see it

We’ll have plenty of other ways for IAPE members to display support for union contract proposals and our Bargaining Committee. Location update meetings will continue—today for members in the Midwest region, Monday for members in Canada and Wednesday for Mid-Atlantic members. Negotiations with Dow Jones resume on Tuesday.

In the meantime, if you have any questions or comments about contract negotiations, or if you want to volunteer to participate in the CAT, please contact us at union@iape1096.org.

Bargaining Update: “You Asked For It”

Contract Gains Overshadowed by Company’s First Wage Proposal

First T-shirt Day Thursday! Spread the word!

During a contract negotiation session on Tuesday, Dow Jones presented a new document to the union containing responses to IAPE offers, proposals on certain benefits issues and—56 days after the beginning of 2023 contract talks—its first wage proposal of this round of bargaining.

“You asked for it,” Dow Jones negotiators told union reps, “now you’re going to get it.”

It wasn’t worth the wait. The proposal: a 2023 “general compensatory increase” of 3.0%.

The proposed increase in year one of the contract—the company listed years two and three as “to be negotiated”—falls short of the union’s opening demand of 15% in 2023, a proposal Dow Jones negotiators have repeatedly claimed to be at odds with reality.

“We don’t see this as a real wage proposal,” company reps told the union.

We could say the same about a company wage proposal that represents a cut in real wages.

IAPE T-shirt Day Thursday, Aug. 10

We’re sure you are disappointed with the company’s initial wage proposal, and so we are calling for IAPE members everywhere to take part in our first IAPE T-shirt day tomorrow, coinciding with the release of News Corp’s fourth-quarter and full-year earnings report after the market close. 

Grab an IAPE t-shirt—if you don’t have one, any red or black tee will do—and gather with your colleagues for a display of IAPE solidarity. If you’re working remotely on Thursday, you absolutely can still participate.

We would love to see (and share!) photos of your IAPE activity—send your favorite t-shirt shots to union@iape1096.org and we’ll let all our social media followers know we are #IAPEStrong and opposed to sub-par pay rates.

If you need an IAPE shirt for future t-shirt days—and we expect to have these often—let us know what size you wear. We’ll check our current supply and see what we can send to you.

Back to yesterday’s bargaining session…

Dow Jones also provided a comprehensive health insurance proposal calling for increases in insurance premium percentages, as well as new maximum rates in plan design for 2025 and 2026—elements including coinsurance, deductibles, prescription coverage and maximum out-of-pocket amounts. The union has agreed to keep details of those proposals confidential while negotiations continue.

The company also proposed increasing the minimum pay increase threshold from $1,000 to $1,300 per week. To do so would mean that, with a 3.0% raise, any employee currently earning less than $1,300 weekly would receive a pay hike of no less than $39 per week, or $78 per pay period. A negotiated 4.0% raise would result in a minimum weekly increase of $52; a 5.0% raise would produce a minimum weekly increase of $65, and so on.

There were some productive moments during yesterday’s session. In two very important gains for the union, Dow Jones agreed to eliminate the parental leave distinction between primary and secondary caregivers, meaning all employees would be eligible for 20 weeks of paid leave regardless of their caregiver status.

Dow Jones also agreed to a union proposal to cover out-of-network mental health providers at the same coinsurance percentages as in-network providers, subject to any Aetna differences in reasonable and customary coverage for in- and out-of-network providers (and other plan terms).

Responding to a union proposal for the addition of non-familial funeral days off, the company agreed to modify bereavement leave to provide up to five days of leave per death, applicable for the passing of any family member or friend.

Offering a counter to an IAPE proposal for coverage of doula services, management asked IAPE to consider the addition of services as a covered benefit beginning in 2025. However, since doula services are not considered “medically necessary,” reimbursement would need to be processed through Dow Jones Payroll, which would require employees to disclose the fact that they are using doula services. This reimbursement would also be taxable.

Dow Jones rejected—or continued to reject—a number of IAPE proposals, including:

• Expanding an employee’s choice to receive a day’s pay instead of an additional day off after working on a holiday to all holidays, rather than the current agreement of holidays after July 3

• The addition of a sixth week of paid vacation

• Expanding payment for unused vacation days upon termination

• Carryover of vacation time into a new calendar year for employees in all states and provinces

• Increases to 401(k) plan contributions

• Comp time for excessive work on a regular working day

• Elimination of a probation period for temporary workers retained as staff employees

Dow Jones and IAPE negotiators will resume talks on Thursday, but with a focus on job classification and pay scale proposals. IAPE expects to respond to yesterday’s Dow Jones proposal next Tuesday. Aug. 15.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, comments or complaints about the latest proposal from management, send your thoughts to union@iape1096.org.

The Perfect IAPE Candidate: You!

Have you ever considered running for election?

Every three years, IAPE holds an election for all positions on the union’s governing board. The Board of Directors is the body responsible for all IAPE matters, from setting internal policy and approving budgets, to overseeing contract negotiations.

2023 is an IAPE election year, and nominations are open for all positions until Aug. 31 at 10:00 a.m. EDT.

Any member in good standing—someone who is current in payment of membership dues as of Aug. 11—is eligible to run for one of our four officer positions: President, Vice President, Treasurer or Secretary. Members are also eligible to run for one of seven regional Location Director seats or three Classification Director positions, so long as they work within those regions or classifications.

Elections are also held for two At-Large Delegate positions—members who become eligible to join our four officers at conventions and conferences of our parent unions The NewsGuild and the Communications Workers of America. At-Large Delegates are not members of the IAPE Board.

If you are interested in running for IAPE election this year, or if you would like to nominate a colleague you think would be a perfect fit for the Board, the process is very simple: access IAPE’s online nomination form, enter your name and the name of the member you are nominating—self-nominations are perfectly fine—select an officer or director position and click the “submit” button.

The IAPE Elections Committee will verify all nominations as they are received. When members approve their nominations, names will be posted on the IAPE Election page. Elections for any contested seats will be held later this year.

If you have questions about what being an IAPE officer or director entails, please reach out to us at union@iape1096.org.

You really should consider running. We think you would be a wonderful addition to the IAPE Board!

Register For Town Hall Meetings!
It’s not too late to register for today’s contract town hall meetings. We have two times to choose: 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. EDT. We’ll have an update on where we stand with Dow Jones contract negotiations and how you can get involved to support the bargaining committee. We’ll also set aside a few minutes for contract Q&A.

Visit the IAPE Events page to register and receive your Zoom link. See you later today!

Bargaining Update: A Few Issues and Small Steps

IAPE and Dow Jones bargaining teams met yesterday to discuss a small number of contract issues. The union presented its fourth proposal document.

IAPE and Dow Jones reached two new tentative agreements:

• The company will be permitted to exclude Interns from the bargaining unit for a cumulative period of 15 months.

• Retraining allowances—paid to employees as part of post-separation benefits packages when positions are eliminated as a result of layoff—will be increased by $1,000 for each eligibility level, depending on tenure and reason for layoff, and will now range from $4,000 to $13,000.

IAPE requested new information and presented new proposals on a number of subjects previously under discussion:

• Advance notice of investigatory, disciplinary and discharge meetings: in an attempt to determine how often IAPE representatives might be summoned to such meetings, if the union and the company can agree to a company requirement to notify the union whenever these occur, IAPE requested data about the total number of meetings held with or without union representation dating back to 2018. Dow Jones representatives said that information does not exist within company records.

• Experience credit: IAPE countered a company proposal to align experience credit with salary for newly hired employees, with a proposal to require the same for all employees holding a classified title. The union offered this example: if a News Assistant is promoted to Reporter and paid a salary between the B and C scales for the Reporter pay tier, that employee should be placed at the B scale and be eligible for a pay increase to the C scale during the following year. Currently, that employee could be considered to have A scale experience regardless of their salary.

• Extraordinary hours worked by overtime-exempt employees: the union modified a proposal previously rejected by the company in an attempt to secure compensation for overtime-exempt employees, like Reporters or Software Engineers, when they are required to work a significant number of extra hours during the regular workweek. IAPE proposed payment of comp time beginning after the third hour of work beyond the end of a regular workday.

• Status of former contractors converted to Dow Jones employees: IAPE modified another proposal previously rejected by the company to recognize periods of time spent by contractors, or CWRs, before they were hired by Dow Jones and converted to staff. Recognizing that temporary employees will have worked for 12 months prior to being retained by the company, IAPE has proposed recognizing those 12 months by eliminating the probation period for those workers and making them immediately protected against disciplinary action by the contract’s just cause provisions.

The union also withdrew a proposal to cap mandatory overtime and a proposal to provide a meal allowance when employees work more than two hours beyond a regular workday in a Dow Jones office or at a location away from home.

Dow Jones representatives did not immediately respond to the union’s proposal document, but said they expect to address these issues when the parties resume negotiations next Tuesday, Aug. 8. Dow Jones is also expected to deliver its first proposals on employee benefits during that meeting.

Tried Filing For Comp Time Lately? Had Problems?
Since we’re thinking about comp time, this seems like a good time to mention IAPE members have noticed an inability to file comp time hours in Workday. The union has brought this problem to the attention of management. An initial response from HRIS staff suggests that the problem might be due to a bi-weekly blackout on Workday filings at the close of each payroll period—time sheets are locked for payroll processing every alternate Tuesday through Thursday, but are available again on Friday—but an investigation continues to see whether this might be a pay system problem.

Today is Friday, so if you’ve had difficulty logging your comp time hours lately, this might be a good time to try again. If you are still unable to file your time in Workday, please let us know.

Town Halls and Location Meetings
Please join your fellow members and hear directly from IAPE Bargaining Committee members at one of our Town Hall meetings on Monday.

Two sessions are scheduled for Aug. 7, at 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. EDT. To attend, register at the IAPE Events Page.

Members in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Detroit, watch your inboxes for invitations to separate location meetings soon.

As always, if you have questions or comments about bargaining, please reach out to us at union@iape1096.org.

Maybe You Should Run!
Not only is this year a contract bargaining year, but it is also a union election year. The window for nominations to run for a spot on the IAPE Board of Directors is currently open. Details about the election process and nomination form can be found on the IAPE website.

At this moment, the following nominations have been verified and accepted:

• Jodi Green - President

• Austen Hufford - Treasurer

• Tim Merle - Secretary

• Vipal Monga - Location Director–Canada

• Ariana Vera - Location Director–Mid-Atlantic

• Patricia Corley - Location Director–Mid-Atlantic

• Laura Casey - Location Director–Northeast

• Ted Mann - Location Director–Southeast

• Jess Bravin - Location Director–Southeast

• Stephanie Armour - Classification Director–News

• Tim Martell - CWA At-Large Delegate

A list of all nominees is available on the IAPE website. Additional nominees will be posted upon verification and acceptance of their nomination.

Bargaining Update: Who’s Talking About Pay Raises?

IAPE members have reported hearing managers repeating similar messages during recent department meetings. Non-union supervisors are being informed that they can expect to receive news about compensation and 2023 pay raises soon. Meanwhile, the message from managers for IAPE-represented staff is, “you have to wait until contract negotiations end.”

That’s mostly true. Despite what many Dow Jones managers might claim, IAPE-represented employees are able to request discretionary pay adjustments at any time.

Regardless, when IAPE and Dow Jones resumed negotiations yesterday, the company again failed to deliver a proposal on wages despite multiple comments from the union on the importance of such a proposal to our members. “You've always gotten a wage proposal from us,” the IAPE team was told, “and you're going to get a wage proposal from us.”

During another brief bargaining meeting, the company instead provided updates on three areas also under discussion: 

• Company-provided notice to employees with seniority when they are eligible to volunteer for layoffs: management is discussing the feasibility of this IAPE proposal with People Department staff.

• A Dow Jones counter to increase IAPE’s proposed 12 cumulative month cap on non-union interns to a total of 15 cumulative months. 

• A management offer to withdraw a proposal (item 1.G. from Company Proposal No. 1) if the union confirmed an understanding that employees who receive pay adjustments after July 1 during a bargaining year are not eligible to also receive the negotiated raise when a contract is eventually ratified. IAPE agreed with that position.

With no other Dow Jones proposals to discuss yesterday, the company suggested using tomorrow’s bargaining session to begin negotiations over job classifications and tier adjustments, and to return next Tuesday for its first proposals on 2024 benefits.

IAPE agreed with the suggestion for a conversation about benefits, but suggested pushing the job classification meeting to Thursday, Aug. 10. The union intends on using tomorrow’s meeting to present new contract proposals.

Location Meetings and Town Halls 
Before IAPE and Dow Jones return to the bargaining table, Northeast union members will have a chance to hear an update during a location (and Zoom) meeting Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. 

Next Monday, Aug. 7, all members can join one of two all-union town hall meetings, scheduled for 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. EDT. To attend, register at the IAPE Events Page.

As always, if you have questions or comments about bargaining, please reach out to us at union@iape1096.org.

WSJ Photo Editors Win!

NLRB Says Photo Eds Have The Right To Hold Union Election

Nearly nine months after the conclusion of a hearing into the question of their union eligibility, Photo Editors and Lead Photo Editors at The Wall Street Journal learned today that the National Labor Relations Board has directed an election to be held so they may be represented by IAPE TNG-CWA Local 1096.

The mail-ballot representation election must be concluded by Sept. 8, 2023, almost one year to the day after Photo Editors first filed an NLRB petition to be represented by IAPE.

In his decision, NLRB Regional Director John D. Doyle Jr. wrote that the election will apply to “All full-time and regular part-time photo editors and lead photo editors, including features photo editors, lead features photo editors, and news photo editors.”

The Regional Director rejected arguments by the company that Photo Editors and Lead Photo Editors are supervisory employees.

Today’s ruling is an ENORMOUS victory and would not have been accomplished without the solidarity of our Photo Editor and Lead Photo Editor colleagues, the leadership of IAPE Organizer Marissa Dadiw, and the guidance and presentation of the union’s case at the Labor Board by counsel for the union, Adam Bellotti from the Washington firm of Bredhoff & Kaiser.

When we fight, we win!

Bargaining Update: Responses to Various Proposals

IAPE and Dow Jones representatives met again yesterday. No new proposals were exchanged. IAPE provided Dow Jones with responses to the company’s Proposals #2 and #3. Some topics of discussion yesterday included:

• Eligibility for Increases

• Notice of Meetings (for Disciplinary/Investigatory meetings involving IAPE employees)

• Change in probation period from 9 to 6 months

• Retraining allowance

• Retirement Severance

• Amendment to Article XX - Nondiscrimination

IAPE withdrew the following proposals:

• Revision of Rehire section to increase rehire rights from one month to six months.

• Payment upon discharge for cause

• Increase severance payment when the company is sold or employee is transferred to a new company from half to full

IAPE and Dow Jones have agreed to the following tentative agreement:

• Process for applying for an available position (Art. VI(J))

Dow Jones has yet to provide their wage or benefits proposal. IAPE reiterated the importance of a wage proposal to our members and pointed to the approaching end of the contractual 60-day extension, which expires at the end of August. 

Bargaining has been canceled for Thursday (7/27) due to the company and IAPE’s regular monthly joint committee meeting and will resume next Tuesday (8/1). 

Bargaining Town Hall Reminder
IAPE will host two virtual town hall sessions on Monday, August 7th at 2pm ET and 6pm ET. We will provide updates on bargaining, discuss how members can get involved and answer any questions you may have about bargaining.

You can sign up to attend on the Events page on our website. 

Bargaining Update: Job Security Discussion

IAPE and Dow Jones representatives met yesterday for a negotiation session centered around select issues regarding job security. 

Management presented IAPEwith their Proposal #3, and maintained their existing proposals from other sessions were still on the table.

The company withdrew their original proposal of using merit, instead of seniority, as the first criteria for layoffs. As an alternate option, they proposed extending the window for which recent hires would be considered to have equal seniority from the first 2 years of employment to 5 years. This would result in all employees within their first 5 years of employment having the same seniority, which would allow the company to pick anyone within that pool of employees for layoffs first. They would then use merit as the secondary decision-maker to decide which employees within the pool of 5 years would be laid off. The company also made claims that this would help diversity efforts as they believe more diverse employees are typically the least senior and would benefit from the larger pool of employees. 

The current contract also states that any employee(s) having 2 years or more of service shall be deemed to have the same seniority status as any other Employee(s) whose hire date is within 1 year. The company’s proposal is to increase the 1-year band to a 5-year band, again using merit as the second criteria. 

Four of the company’s original proposals remain unchanged: volunteer process, process for applying for an available position, layoffs involving outsourcing and department head list.

In response to IAPE’s proposals regarding job security, the company is not interested in lowering the length of the probationary period from 9 months to 6 months. However, the company is  willing to accept IAPE’s proposal that a notice to employees regarding the probationary period be included in all offer letters. 

The company also agreed to increase retraining allowances by $1000 for each benefit level. IAPE is still waiting on documentation from the company illustrating the use of the retraining programs. 

The company rejected the following IAPE proposals:

• Require payment upon discharge for cause

• Expand rehire rights from 1 month to 6 months

• Modification of contract definitions or application of location or department

• Bumping rights

• Providing access to company systems after layoff to retrieve personal files

• Modification of existing language regarding sale of business unit severance

• Employee option for a retirement payment

• Modification of contract in regards to temporary employees

In our previous bargaining session, the company expressed their lack of interest in IAPE’s proposals to expand the terms under Article XX- Nondiscrimination. Yesterday they provided the union a counterproposal to add the existing anti-harassment language from the company’s global anti-harassment policy to the collective bargaining agreement with IAPE. 

As always, if you have any questions or are interested in getting more involved with our Contract Action Team, email us at union@iape1096.org.

Bargaining Town Hall Reminder!
IAPE will be holding town hall meetings on Monday, August 7 from 2:00-3:00pm EDT and from 6:00-7:00pm EDT. Please see our Events page to sign up to attend.

Election Nominations
Not only is this year a bargaining year, but it is also an election year. 

The nomination window is currently open. Details about the election process and nomination form can be found on our website here.

So far, the following nominations have been verified and accepted:

• Austen Hufford for Treasurer

• Laura Casey for Location Director-Northeast

• Ted Mann for Location Director- Southeast

• Jess Bravin for Location Director- Southeast

• Stephanie Armour for Classification Director-News 

These nominees have been posted to the IAPE website. Additional nominees will be posted upon verification and acceptance of their nomination.