Largest Non-Union Dow Jones Unit Opts for TNG-CWA

IAPE Local 1096 of The Newspaper Guild-CWA this week notified Dow Jones that it is claiming representation rights on behalf of about 220 newswire employees at the company's Harborside facility in Jersey City, N.J., following a card-signing campaign.

The union, representing more than 1,800 Dow Jones employees in the United States and Canada, reported that a majority in the Harborside unit has signed union authorization cards.  The contract with the employer provides for majority card check recognition.

Local 1096 President Steve Yount said he expects details for certification by a neutral third part to be worked out shortly.

The Harborside operation is the largest remaining non-union editorial unit at Dow Jones, a publishing empire that includes the Wall Street Journal, Barrons Magazine, Dow Jones Newswires and other journals and electronic services.

Yount credited the work of "a strong and enthusiastic internal committee" for the employee's organizing victory after a six-month campaign.  Most of the Harborside employees are reporters and editors for Dow Jones Newswires along with technical, sales and support personnel.

The Harborside 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," Yount said.

In ongoing contract talks at Dow Jones, key issues for the employees center on management demands 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.

On Tuesday, members at Dow Jones locations held a "mass coffee break" to mark the end of a 60-day contract extension and discuss an end to voluntary appearances by reporters on CNBC, Wall Street Journal video, webcasts and radio, and insistence on overtime pay for all extra time worked.  "We sent a strong message to the company:  We are unified and we are determined to win a quality contract," said Yount.