Bargaining Update: Company Responds on AI

IAPE received a brief proposal from Dow Jones during today’s contract negotiation session, responding to the union’s position on the impact of artificial intelligence. Management’s AI proposal contains three components:

• Introduction of AI will be subject to the same advance notice and training requirements as other new technology

• Voices of bargaining unit employees will not be used to create voicebanks that would allow an article to be read in any bargaining unit employee’s voice without the employee's specific consent

• Employees who lose their jobs as a result of automation or any new technology  will receive four additional weeks of severance pay

While the voicebank portion of today’s company proposal addresses concerns expressed by IAPE members on podcast and audio teams, the rest of the company’s offer falls short of last week’s IAPE proposal.

Dow Jones representatives said the company believes the union’s proposal—to prevent AI from being used to perform work that is editorial in nature—is too restrictive.

IAPE and Dow Jones discussed job security, health care coverage and other contract topics, but did not trade any additional proposals today. Management expressed frustration that IAPE has continued to propose annual wage increases of 12%, 8% and 8%. Union negotiators noted that the current company proposal of 3% pay raises per year for 2023, 2024 and 2025 falls well short of IAPE member expectations.

Negotiations resume on Thursday.

Blocked Email? Check Proofpoint
If you’re wondering why you’ve received this update at your personal email address, but not in your Dow Jones inbox, check your Proofpoint app to make sure email from IAPE is not being blocked by company email filters.

Dow Jones suggests following this process for releasing blocked email:

1. Review your Daily Email Digest each day, ensuring any needed emails that have been flagged as Bulk are released from quarantine (Click "Release") and that the users are added to your Safe Senders (Click "Allow Sender") list in Proofpoint.

2. Periodically review your Proofpoint Quarantine in real time by clicking the Proofpoint Quarantine tile in OKTA. You can release emails and allow (or block) senders here as well.

Access the Proofpoint User Guide and FAQ for more details.

Strike School
On Saturday, Sept. 30, IAPE’s parent unions The NewsGuild (TNG) and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) hosted a hybrid-style Strike School, which included panels and workshops with union locals who have been on strike or are preparing to strike. IAPE staff and members joined over 200 attendees from across the United States and Canada discussing topics including escalating collective actions, the process for strike approval, and strike funds. 

One of the guiding principles of Strike School is “Learn, Do, Teach" which encourages participants to take the training back to their locals and members. As IAPE continues this round of negotiations with Dow Jones, representatives are working on adapting the materials from Strike School for IAPE to build collective power. 

See your email for a short questionnaire about your interest in attending IAPE Strike School.

Remaking Newsrooms at the Expense of Employees

Company says Hong Kong editors are “redundant”

By now you have likely seen the New York Times’ interview with Wall Street Journal Editor in Chief Emma Tucker, in which she talks about her efforts to remake Dow Jones’ newsrooms for a changing media era.

“We need to make our journalism more accessible without in any way diluting the standards or integrity of the reporting,” Ms. Tucker said in an interview a day after she addressed the newsroom. “And I think it’s possible to do both.”

These would be heartening words to the newsroom if the changes weren’t already underway.

A Journal spokesman also acknowledged—to the Times—some changes that Dow Jones hasn’t yet announced directly to its own employees: the layoff of seven editors in Hong Kong, colleagues who are not represented by IAPE, who received letters stating their positions had "become redundant." What effect these position eliminations will have on the process of producing The Wall Street Journal—and the increased workload it may mean for those who remain—is something management has withheld from the people who make the paper.

No mass layoffs are planned, Tucker told the Times, but people are being cut. She explained it this way: “Everyone’s having to do layoffs.”

Really?

Dow Jones’ past several years of financial results show no need to cut staff:

Dow Jones’ revenue has grown every year since 2019. So has earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. So has EBITDA margin. So has circulation revenue. Same for revenue from the professional information business, climbing steadily, year over year. The rate of growth in earnings itself remains robust: more than 14% for 2023, following on rates of more than 30% and 40%, respectively, in the previous two years.

Everyone has to do layoffs?

That premise is consistent with the slow drip of job cuts across the company, not just in the newsroom, but also in other departments that are critical to Dow Jones’ continued success.

The fatalistic tone is familiar from the bargaining table, too.

In August, News Corp. CEO Robert Thomson boasted to investors that Dow Jones had achieved “its highest profitability for both the quarter and the full year since we acquired the company.”

But in talks on a new contract with IAPE, the company has offered just 3% annual pay raises for three years and a massive shift of cost for health insurance onto employees. It has done so while refusing to negotiate meaningfully on protections from generative artificial intelligence—something the company’s executives described as a “cost-saving measure.”

What IAPE is asking at the bargaining table is simple: Can a company adapt to a changing industry while equitably sharing its growing profits with the people who create that value? Can a media company make investors happy while cutting a fair deal with its workers at the same time?

Our answer is simple, too. To borrow a line from Emma Tucker: We think it’s possible to do both.

Bargaining Update: Job Security & AI

IAPE representatives presented two new contract proposals during a short negotiation session with Dow Jones today. The union bargaining committee shared a package proposal to address respective positions over job security, as well as a revised proposal on the impact of artificial intelligence and other new technologies on the IAPE-represented workforce.

The new union AI proposal would require payment of an additional six weeks of severance pay to any employee who loses a job as a result of the introduction of new technology.

IAPE also proposed requirements to train employees on new technology, to prevent the company from using AI “to perform work that is editorial in nature,” and to protect employees from having their voices used without permission.

Today’s union offer on job security responds to a Dow Jones proposal to increase “windows” for grouping seniority dates. IAPE has agreed to consider employees with fewer than three years of continuous service to have equal seniority protection. However, the union countered a company proposal to grant equal seniority status to anyone hired within three years for longer-term employees—effectively a six-year seniority range, in IAPE’s view—to bands of eighteen months.

Currently, employees with more than two years of service have equal seniority with employees hired within one year of their hire date.

IAPE also shared a comprehensive list of departments to be merged under its job security proposal, which would result in larger employee groups when comparing seniority dates.

Negotiations ended today without an agreement on either item. Bargaining is scheduled to resume on Friday with a discussion of job classification issues.

Strike School
On Saturday, Sept. 30, IAPE’s parent unions The NewsGuild (TNG) and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) hosted a hybrid-style Strike School, which included panels and workshops with union locals who have been on strike or are preparing to strike. IAPE staff and members joined over 200 attendees from across the United States and Canada discussing topics including escalating collective actions, the process for strike approval, and strike funds.

One of the guiding principles of Strike School is “Learn, Do, Teach" which encourages participants to take the training back to their locals and members. As IAPE continues this round of negotiations with Dow Jones, representatives are working on adapting the materials from Strike School for IAPE to build collective power.

See your email for a short questionnaire about your interest in attending IAPE Strike School.

Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh: Still on Strike
Did you know that 28 NewsGuild units have already engaged in a work stoppage of one day or more in 2023?

As we enter October, more than 100 of our Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh union siblings have been on strike against their employer, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette for one year. Members continue to demand that the company reinstate their health insurance and follow federal labor law to bargain in good faith.

IAPE members who would like to support Pittsburgh Guild efforts can donate to the local strike fund and can subscribe to the local strike publication, the Pittsburgh Union Progress (PUP).

Bargaining Update: We’re Worth More

Dow Jones and IAPE negotiators met this morning to review a new company proposal, in response to a union document offered on Tuesday. There was little discussion of the latest management proposal, though IAPE representatives noted the company should not expect the new Dow Jones wage offer—3% per year for 2023, 2024 and 2025—to be considered acceptable.

IAPE also expressed concern that, by proposing to shift costs onto employees, management appears to be trying to drive employees away from Aetna POS II health care coverage. Dow Jones reps called union statements “pejorative” and said the company’s proposal is simply a reflection of increased company costs.

Dow Jones also responded, for the first time, to IAPE proposals on the impact of artificial intelligence. The company has offered to pay additional severance pay to any employee whose job is eliminated as a result of automation, “including Artificial Intelligence systems.”

Dow Jones and IAPE will resume negotiations next Tuesday. In the meantime, please respond to a IAPE survey on membership involvement: what will you do to demonstrate to management that we’re worth more than the company is offering?

We first presented this survey on Sept. 22, but it seems that, for many members, that message was blocked by email filters. If you missed our first delivery, please see your email today!

TNG Strike School!
Please also consider enrolling in Strike School, a day-long training class being held tomorrow and offered by our parent union, The NewsGuild.

2023 has been the year of the strike for many of our TNG siblings. To better explain the process of going on strike, officers and staff at the Guild and activists from various locals will be holding TNG’s second annual Strike School tomorrow from 11:30 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. EDT.

Through a series of interactive workshops and panels, you’ll learn the following from a diverse group of leaders about:

• What makes strong contract campaigns 

• How you and your coworkers can build a militant and responsive workforce that’s excited and ready to take action 

• How to identify who the targets are that can actually move things at the bargaining table

• How to set the foundation of escalating actions up to a strike nuts and bolts of running a strike.

This class is available to all Guild members, including those of us in IAPE. If you are interested in attending, please see your email to register for in-person or remote participation.

Bargaining Update: No New Proposals

Take Our Survey: What Will You Do?

IAPE and Dow Jones negotiators met yesterday to discuss job security concepts and health care cost data. No new proposals were exchanged. The union again expressed concern about a Dow Jones proposal to expand seniority “windows.”

Current contract seniority protections explain that “all Employees having less than two (2) years of service shall be deemed to have the same seniority status” and that “Employee(s) having two years or more of service shall be deemed to have the same seniority status as any other Employee(s) whose hire date is within one (1) year.”

Expanding those groupings to include all employees with three (3) years of service less, and for longer-term employees, to have the same seniority as others hired within eighteen (18) months could impact job security for as many as 250 IAPE-represented employees.

IAPE representatives also questioned data the company shared to demonstrate how its health care costs have increased over the past three years. The union requested information to show costs per employee, after learning data shared by management—total company spending for union and non-union employees—also included staff from new Dow Jones groups like OPIS.

IAPE informed Dow Jones it expects to discuss health care proposals when negotiations resume on Tuesday.

IAPE Members: What Will You Do?
During contract negotiations with Dow Jones management, visible member support is more important than any words or documents traded at the bargaining table. As contract talks continue, IAPE members will be asked to show their union support by participating in various group actions. Today, we'd like you to tell us: what are you willing to do to show management that you deserve a better contract?

See your email for a short survey you can take to let us know!

Responses will help the IAPE Contract Action Team (CAT) prepare upcoming member actions. If you would like to join the CAT, please contact union@iape1096.org.

Hickory Dickory DC
It sounds like IAPE members working in the Washington bureau could use a CAT of their own.

Local members of the IAPE Board of Directors report the presence of mice in their office, with some members describing the workplace pests as “an infestation the company hasn’t adequately addressed for two months.”

“They are rampant,” said another member.

After raising the issue with Dow Jones management, company officials responded to IAPE:

“In a commercial building like this, whether it be in DC or any of the cities we reside in, pest control is typically in place. The landlord actively manages this, and has responded in a timely fashion upon the concern reported. It's safe to say that there are no obvious signs of an ‘infestation’, and remediation steps have and will continue to be taken if the concern continues.  In many cases like this one, the best deterrent is keeping our office clean and not leaving food out.”

Take Our AI Survey!

Tell TNG what we should do about AI!

IAPE and Dow Jones contract negotiation teams have largely taken a break from bargaining this week. Union and company officials met briefly on Tuesday to discuss job classification and pay scale issues, and again this morning to review various data reports the company provides to IAPE. Negotiations over “big ticket” proposals are expected to resume next week.

From the union’s perspective, job security must be included in those larger issue conversations—and a key component of job security must be a better understanding of how Dow Jones plans on integrating artificial intelligence within its products.

Speaking of AI . . .

Last week, we invited IAPE members to participate in a survey conducted by our parent union, The NewsGuild, and the initial response from our own members has been fabulous! Thanks to those who have already taken part!

The deadline to respond to TNG’s survey is Friday, Sept. 22. We would love as many additional IAPE members as possible to help influence our parent union’s position on AI issues, and help inform the Guild’s approach to bargaining over AI advances. See your email for details and submit your responses today!

(One lucky survey respondent will win swag from TNG-CWA’s online union store.)

IAPE on the Road
One very important aspect of developing member support for any union negotiation campaign is boosting union visibility in all our workplaces. IAPE officers, directors and staff will be working to do just that over the next few weeks, leading up to the Oct. 30 expiration date for our now-extended contract.

Today, IAPE President Jodi Green and Executive Director Tim Martell are in San Francisco for a meet and greet with members and an update on contract negotiations.

Next week, union officers and staff will be available in Princeton on Sept. 20 and New York on Sept. 21—see your calendar for local meeting details. On Sept. 27, members in Chicago will be able to hear first-hand from IAPE reps and talk about contract negotiations.

Whether you get to meet with IAPE representatives this month or not, your support for your union bargaining committee is always appreciated! Please continue to watch for ways you can get involved in member actions—by wearing union t-shirts, joining IAPE social media campaigns, or any other mobilization activity we’ll be advertising soon!

TNG Strike School
Our friends at the Guild have been working on more than just AI issues lately. In recent months, union siblings at Guild shops like The New York Times and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram have participated in short-term strikes on their way to negotiating amazing new contract settlements with their employers. And, of course, Guild members at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette have been on strike for almost one year.

To better explain the process of going on strike, officers and staff at the Guild and activists from various locals will be holding TNG’s second annual Strike School on Saturday, Sept. 30 from 11:30 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. EDT. They’ll also have a special guest from the United Auto Workers talking about what their union is doing to prepare for what could be the nation’s largest strike in decades. Plus, TNG and CWA leadership will also speak about building worker power, including new CWA President Claude Cummings.

Through a series of interactive workshops and panels, you’ll learn the following from a diverse group of leaders about:

• What makes strong contract campaign 

• How you and your coworkers can build a militant and responsive workforce that’s excited and ready to take action 

• How to identify who the targets are that can actually move things at the bargaining table

• How to set the foundation of escalating actions up to a strike nuts and bolts of running a strike.

This class is available to all Guild members, including those of us in IAPE. If you are interested in attending, see your email for registration details!

A Photo Finish!

NLRB Declares Photo Eds, Lead Photo Eds Part of IAPE Unit

New Members Vote 33 to 0 to Join Union

364 long days after filing a petition at the National Labor Relations Board, Photo Editors and Lead Photo Editors working for The Wall Street Journal have finally been certified as IAPE-represented employees.

NLRB Region 02 agents confirmed results of an employee vote this morning at the Board’s Manhattan offices, following the counting of mail-in ballots. 33 out of 40 eligible employees voted to join IAPE. There were no ballots delivered opposing union representation. Two ballots were ruled “ineligible” by the Board.

“Today was a great day!” said IAPE President Jodi Green, outside the NLRB offices following the ballot count.

Today’s bargaining unit certification is the culmination of a years-long effort by Photo Editors and IAPE representatives. Dating back to 2017, the union had repeatedly tried to convince Dow Jones that Photo Editor employees should not be considered management, but rather union-eligible employees like their newsroom colleagues.

Frustrated by the company’s refusal to recognize their union-eligible status, employees finally turned to the NLRB for assistance last year. After a union card-signing campaign led by IAPE Organizer Marissa Dadiw, Photo Editors and Lead Photo Editors filed a petition for a representation election on Sept. 9, 2022.

“It feels amazing!” Dadiw said. “It definitely got emotional toward the end.”

An NLRB hearing investigating the union eligibility of Photo Editors was held over multiple days in November of last year. On Aug. 1, Region 02 Director John D. Doyle Jr. issued a decision granting union eligibility to Photo Editors and Lead Photo Editors, and ordering a mail-ballot representation election.

During that hearing, IAPE was represented by Adam Bellotti from the Washington, DC firm of Bredhoff & Kaiser. Dow Jones was represented by lawyers from Cozen O’Connor, an employment firm based in Philadelphia.

In one final, desperate act of defiance—and perhaps a final opportunity to ring up billable hours—a Cozen associate attempted to challenge multiple Photo Editor ballots during today’s vote count, but all complaints were dismissed. For no apparent reason, the company’s representative refused to sign the final certification document following the count.

IAPE will now seek an immediate agreement with Dow Jones to place Photo Editors and Lead Photo Editors into the existing bargaining unit, so they may be covered by a collective agreement. That contract is currently under negotiation by the union and Dow Jones management.

Bargaining Update: A Slow Trickle of Progress

IAPE and Dow Jones negotiators met today to review new union proposals, mostly responses to company offerings from Aug. 22 and Aug. 31 bargaining sessions.

In its latest proposal document, IAPE confirmed tentative agreements on shift differential payments for night shift work—the new top-up amount will equal $155 per week—and processes for assigning newly-classified jobs into the IAPE and Dow Jones introductory pay tier structure.

The union presented new counter proposals on stand-by pay and advance notice of disciplinary meetings—both of which were agreed to by the company—layoffs involving outsourcing and a cap on in-office working days through the end of 2025. IAPE also requested information about the new Dow Jones “PerformancePlus” employee evaluation system, announced earlier in the day by CPO Dianne DeSevo.

Dow Jones representatives explained that PerformancePlus is not a new evaluation platform, but rather a new “brand” for the People team. The company then shared a new document withdrawing a proposal to make self-evaluations mandatory for IAPE-represented employees, and modifying earlier proposals on seniority groups and return-to-office issues.

Union representatives reminded Dow Jones they are still awaiting information regarding health care costs. Company negotiators assured the union a response will be available soon. Management also expressed concerns about IAPE’s current wage proposal—annual raises of 12%, 8% and 8%—calling it “a difficult proposal for (Dow Jones) to respond to.”

There was no discussion of new beverage stations in New York.

Negotiations will resume next Tuesday in Princeton.

We Love a Parade!
Members in New York and the tri-state area, if you’re looking for something to do on Saturday morning, we have a perfect suggestion, and a great way to show your support for the IAPE contract team!

Join us for the New York City Labor Day Parade! We’ll meet up with our union siblings from the NewsGuild of New York at 45th Street and 6th Avenue between 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. EDT (and we expect it will be closer to 11:00 before we join the parade crowd).

Wear your favorite IAPE t-shirt! If you don’t have an IAPE tee in your closet, a red or black top will be fine. All are welcome—bring the whole family!

Tomorrow: Photo Editors Join IAPE!
It’s almost here, a day we’ve been looking forward to for nearly one year! Tomorrow, Region 02 officers from the National Labor Relations Board will count ballots from WSJ Photo Editors voting to be included in the IAPE bargaining unit! All ballots will be commingled and counted at the NLRB offices starting at 10:00 a.m. EDT.

Area members are welcome to attend. An IAPE contingent will gather shortly before 10:00 a.m. outside the office for group photos to memorialize this long-awaited day. IAPE (or red) t-shirts are mandatory, and masks are strongly encouraged.

Because NLRB staff require advance notice of any anticipated audience, so they can assign an appropriately-sized meeting room, please let us know if you are planning to attend.

The Region 02 office address is 26 Federal Plaza, Suite 36-130, New York, NY 10278. For commuters, the nearest train stops are Chambers Street A, C, J, City Hall N, R, W, or Brooklyn Bridge - City Hall 4, 5, 6.

Next Week: IAPE Town Hall Meetings
All members are encouraged to join one of two IAPE virtual town hall meetings on Monday, Sept. 11. Meeting times are scheduled for 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. EDT. See your email for calendar invitations (and let us know if you have not received an invite). Members of the IAPE Bargaining Committee will be present to provide updates from contract negotiations.

If you have contract questions or comments between now and Monday, please send those along to union@iape1096.org.

NY-Area Members: Join Us!

Attention IAPE members who live or work in the tri-state area! We have two exciting activities for you to participate in this week—read on for more information!

First, and definitely the event we have been looking forward to the longest, is Friday’s counting of the ballots for WSJ Photo Editors voting to be included in the IAPE bargaining unit! All ballots will be commingled and counted at the National Labor Relations Board Region 02 Office at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 8.

All are welcome to attend and support your soon-to-be fellow members! Attendees will gather shortly before 10:00 a.m. outside the office for group photos to memorialize this long-awaited day. IAPE (or red) t-shirts are mandatory, and masks are strongly encouraged.

Because NLRB staff require advance notice of any anticipated audience, so they can assign an appropriately-sized meeting room, please let us know if you are planning to attend.

The Region 02 office address is 26 Federal Plaza, Suite 36-130, New York, NY 10278. For commuters, the nearest train stops are Chambers Street A, C, J, City Hall N, R, W, or Brooklyn Bridge - City Hall 4, 5, 6.

March in Saturday’s Labor Day Parade
Our second exciting option is an invitation to join IAPE staff and members in Saturday’s New York City Labor Day Parade! We’ll meet up with our union siblings from the NewsGuild of New York and show our support for the IAPE bargaining committee, and the labor movement as a whole.

Our meeting spot and time on Saturday morning: 45th Street and 6th Avenue between 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. (and we expect it will be closer to 11:00 before we join the parade crowd).

Again, IAPE tees (or your favorite red or black top) are fashion musts. All are welcome—bring the whole family!

See you Saturday morning!

IAPE Election of Officers: Nomination & Election Announcement

In accordance with the rules for the 2023 election of officers for IAPE TNG/CWA Local 1096, the union Elections Committee has determined the following members in good standing have been properly nominated, unopposed, and are declared "elected" to the office for which they were nominated for the term of office beginning December 1, 2023 and running through November 30, 2026:

Officers: 

• President/CWA Delegate – Jodi Green

• Vice President/CWA Delegate – Patricia Corley

• Treasurer/CWA Delegate – Austen Hufford

• Secretary/CWA Delegate – Tim Merle

 Location Directors:

 (Candidates must be employed in the geographic location they wish to represent) 

• Canada – Vipal Monga

• Mid-Atlantic – Somyyah Butte, Ariana Vera

• Midwest – Doug Cameron

• Northeast – Laura Casey, Frank Matt

• Northwest – Georgia Wells

• Southeast – Jess Bravin, Ted Mann

Classification Directors:

(Candidates must be employed in the job classification they wish to represent)

• News – Stephanie Armour

 CWA At-Large Delegate: 

• Tim Martell

The Election Committee confirms that no nominations were received for the following positions and has declared them “vacant” as of the beginning of the next term of office:

• Location Director – Mid-Atlantic (1)

• Location Director – Northeast (2)

• Location Director – Southwest

• Classification Director – Administrative/Advertising

• Classification Director – Technology

IAPE Bylaws state that vacant Location Director and Classification Director positions may be filled by appointment of the Board of Directors on recommendation of the Executive Council.

Congratulations to the 2023-26 members of the IAPE Board of Directors!