Dow Jones union: Layoffs are happening, end free labor

Steven Yount, the president of the union that represents business journalists working at Dow Jones & Co. properties, sent out the following email to the news staff on Wednesday:

Since the first of the year, Dow Jones has laid off 62 of your co-workers (31 of them in the last week of June) and once again senior manaement is telling you “we simply have to do more with less.” That means they get more and you get less.

The company is counting, as always, on your willingness to work for free: stay late or work weekends and never charge the company.

Those days of free labor have to end.

Not everyone is eligible for overtime (most reporters aren’t eligible for overtime, but all are eligible for, at least, comp time) and everyone is eligible for holiday pay and a premium for working on a scheduled day off.

From now on, you have to file for every dime the contract says that the company owes you.

We have to clearly demonstrate that we’re tired of “Doing More With Less” and that there’s No More Free Labor from Dow Jones employees. I promise you that IAPE will aggressively pursue each and every claim.

If you have any problems or questions, let me know or reach out directly to union organizer Tim Martell.