Union: WSJ management wants to be like other chains

The union representing journalists and other employees at Dow Jones, the parent company of The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and Marketwatch, posted an update on its web site about the current negotiations with the company on a new contract and noted an unusual stance by management.

Union president Steve Yount and bargaining committee chair Jim Browning wrote that during negotiations earlier this week, “They also told us which news organizations they think of as our ‘peers’ — the benchmarks on which they want to base our pay and benefits. These are the Associated Press, Gannett, McClatchy, the New York Times, Scripps, Tribune and the Washington Post.

“With all due respect to these companies, we don’t aspire to be like them. We certainly don’t want to become another USA Today.

“Back in August, WSJ publisher Gordon Crovitz pointed with pride to a Pew study showing that the Journal is the most trusted publication in the U.S.

“‘Indeed,’ said Gordon, ‘the Journal was the only major publication whose credibility rating rose since 2004, the time of the most recent Pew study.’ He added that ‘the Journal stands alone’ in its absence of bias.

“That’s what we aspire to. We want to remain head and shoulders above the rest, not part of the crowd. To do that, we need quality pay and quality benefits. Quality people deserve a quality contract.”

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