Union attempting to organize MarketWatch employees

The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting Saturday that a union is attempting to recruit employees at Dow Jones subsidiary MarketWatch to join. Dow Jones is opposing the move.

Reporter George Raine writes, “The number of staff members involved is small. About 210 of MarketWatch’s 300 employees at the company’s San Francisco headquarters and in bureaus around the country are considered union eligible. But labor sees an opening in a changed industry.

“For its part, MarketWatch’s owner, Dow Jones & Co., says a union isn’t necessary. The outcome of worker votes at different bureaus on whether to join the union is anyone’s guess.”

Other details from the story: “The union seeking to represent the Internet company’s staff members is the Independent Association of Publishers’ Employees, which bargains for 1,600 Wall Street Journal and other Dow Jones workers. It also represents 200 employees at Factiva, an information service that Dow Jones co-owns with Reuters.

“The union maintained that all MarketWatch employees in cities already covered by its contract with Dow Jones should have been immediately included after the acquisition. Those cities include San Francisco, Washington, New York, Boston, Atlanta, Dallas, Minneapolis, Los Angeles and Chicago. Dow Jones resisted, arguing that MarketWatch employees should choose whether to be represented by the union.

“The company and Publishers’ Employees negotiated an agreement that allows staff in separate bureaus to decide whether they want union representation.”

Read the story here.