Dow Jones union: We don’t know number of jobs to be eliminated

The union representing business journalists at Dow Jones & Co. sent out the following to its members on Friday afternoon:

About today’s buyout memo from Gerry Baker — here’s what we know:

Dow Jones has offered buyouts to all news staff at The Wall Street Journal. Terms of the buyout offer generally mirror what an IAPE-represented employee would receive during a “regular” layoff, except that severance will be paid at 1.5 times the normal amount up to a maximum of 18 months’ pay.

(See our “normal” severance pay chart at http://iape1096.org/info/FAQ/severance.php. And remember: length of service is determined by all continuous service since your Dow Jones hire date — even if you have changed departments or locations.)

So far, this buyout offer is only available to WSJ news staff – which was reinforced when Barron’s editor and president Ed Finn mistakenly sent a reply to all news staff asking whether Barron’s employees will only receive “the standard package” when they are laid off next week.

So, we know the Company has plans for additional layoffs beyond these buyouts – and beyond WSJ news.

We don’t know how many positions Dow Jones intends to eliminate. We don’t know how many buyouts they intend to accept. And we don’t know what impact this announcement will have on management’s contract proposals during IAPE/DJ negotiations.

We are consulting with our own legal counsel to see whether today’s announcement from management warrants a more formal response from the Union.

We’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, if you have any questions about this buyout news, let us know and we’ll get you answers as soon as we can. IAPE representatives will be available to meet and discuss this buyout — and any IAPE/DJ matters — next Wednesday, October 26th in the Midtown Conference Room (4th Floor, near Barron’s) from 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.