WSJ’s union wants data on women vs. men pay

The Independent Association of Publishers’ Employees, which represents business journalists at The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and MarketWatch.com, sent the following to its members on Wednesday:

It’s International Women’s Day, and we’re proud to recognize that at IAPE TNG/CWA Local 1096. As you may remember, a year ago today we published a preliminary review of Dow Jones salaries for union-represented employees and found a significant gender pay gap between the men and women who work here.

Since then, the company has conducted its own analysis and concluded that there’s nothing much to see here, folks. Tellingly, though, the company has refused to release its findings, or explain the methodology behind its internal and external review processes.

That’s not OK. Yesterday, IAPE delivered a formal information request to Dow Jones seeking copies of the work they completed last year, and an explanation of on how it was done. The Union information request explains, “This information is plainly relevant to IAPE’s role in ensuring that the anti-discrimination provisions of the contract are complied with.”

In the true spirit of the reporter’s mantra, “If your mother says she loves you, check it out,” we have also commissioned our own external study, and expect to be in a position to release that very soon.

Last March, our preliminary examination of the data found that, on average, female Dow Jones employees were paid only 86.8% as much as their male colleagues.

On December 7th, Dow Jones Chief People Officer Mark Musgrave informed staff that their assessment “did show that less than three percent of our employees, a group that included both men and women and spanned multiple ethnicities, needed adjustments to align their salaries with those of colleagues as well as the overall marketplace.”

During a town hall meeting on Monday, Mr. Musgrave said the Company could not back up its claim with data because of privacy concerns, and they continue to insist that the 2016 review done by IAPE was flawed because in locations like the Dow Jones campus in Princeton, NJ, male-dominated technology positions and mostly-female customer service departments might skew an analysis of average pay rates.

Who’s right? That’s for you to decide. We look forward to releasing our more detailed study as soon as possible, with some direct job category comparisons – and unlike the company, we’re committed to telling you what’s in it, and how we did it, so you can make up your own mind.

Our way respects people’s privacy and gives us data we can use to know what’s really going on. Sweeping facts under the carpet doesn’t help anyone.