Talks continue on new digital ad sales position

The Newspaper Guild told the company Monday it needed more clarity to determine the pay classification for the new title of “digital advertising outside salesperson.”

The company had proposed putting the job in pay classification D, the same one as outside salespersons, but it wanted to cap the pay at the third-year rate.

“The position as you propose it would allow the person to sell anything the other people in Class D sell. Therefore, we would not approve capping the base pay at a lower level,” Guild President Tim O’Brien wrote to Publisher George Hearst. “We’re open to discussing this further if the company is willing to be more specific that these positions are for selling search engine optimization. We understand that could lead to selling other ads, but we would need to discuss making the position more distinctive if we were to agree to capping the base pay. As it is, ad sales staff are being asked to sell SEO already. It’s unclear how this position would be distinct.”

O’Brien and Hearst talked later Monday, and the publisher said he would ask Kathy Hallion (who the Guild was glad to see back) and Tom Eason to provide more clarity on how the roles would be different. The parties are both open to further discussion, and input from advertising staff would continue to be sought.

If you have any questions or concerns, call the Guild office at 482-9218, e-mail the union at office@albanyguild.org or call Tim’s cell phone at 466-8700.