220 Dow Jones workers sign up for union representation

Some 220 newswire employees at Dow Jones gained union representation with IAPE Local 1096 of The Newspaper Guild-CWA after an independent arbitrator certified, on April 12, that a majority of the workers supported the union in a March 30 card check. Dow Jones recognized the workers' union on April 13.

The workers (reporters and editors for Dow Jones Newswires, along with technical, sales and support personnel) are employed at the company's Harborside facility in Jersey City, New Jersey. Until the election, they had been the largest remaining non-union editorial unit at Dow Jones. Overall, the TNG-CWA affiliated IAPE (Independent Association of Publishers' Employees) represents 2,000 workers at the publishing empire, which includes the Wall Street Journal, Barron's and Dow Jones Newswires.

Local 1096 President Steve Yount credited the work of "a strong and enthusiastic internal committee" for the employee's organizing victory after a six-month campaign. "The employees realize that they are impacted along with all the rest of us by issues at the bargaining table, and that we need to stand together," he said.

In ongoing contract talks at Dow Jones, the workers will be focusing on management proposals for "drastic cuts in our health care and prescription drug benefits that would substantially reduce our income," Yount said, along with job protections and wage standards.