WSJ, union to begin negotiating new contract next week

Wall Street Journal staffer Yogita Patel, the president of the IAPE 1096 that represents reporters and other journalists at Dow Jones & Co., posted the following on the union’s website:

Hello IAPE members,

Collective bargaining is upon us and starting June 4, I will lead the bargaining committee in negotiating a new contract for IAPE members.

The committee has crafted proposals for this year’s negotiations with an important objective: balance. IAPE understands that Dow Jones will have to continue to seek out new frontiers to remain competitive, but change has to be approached in a way that offers employees protections.

The major themes of our proposals are better job security, the ability to evolve skills to keep pace in a rapidly changing media landscape and more certainty when roles need to change. We know that compensation and health care are also important to your sense of security and we’ll be pushing for changes to those articles of our existing contract, too.

We’re confident that our framework for the next contract, which reflect some significant changes from our current collective bargaining agreement, recognizes employees’ contributions while keeping in mind the company’s need to be agile.

Dow Jones is a premier news organization, and we hear frequently from our members about how proud they are to work here. The reporters and staff at Dow Jones—in large part union members—are a key component of the company’s success. Our goal is to give you a collective bargaining agreement that reflects your part in the company’s status as the industry leader.

Read more here.