ARTICLE VI - GENERAL WAGE PROVISIONS


1. All wages in Article IV and V are minimums only.

2. Nothing in this contract will prevent employees from bargaining individually for pay increases in excess of the minimums established herein.

3. Advertising and Circulation Department wages:

A. In addition to the wages provided by the above wage schedule, Display Advertising Salesperson, Classified Outside Salespersons, Classified Advertising Solicitors, Circulation District Managers will be covered by incentive programs developed by the Publisher and designed to provide additional earning opportunities for increased sales and collections.

B. Compensation programs and total compensation for all outside advertising salespersons will be determined by the Publisher, however, in no case will the total yearly compensation for outside advertising salespersons be less than 110 percent of the annual contractual scale paid to reporters in the same experience classification.

a. In the event a Display Advertising Salesperson or Classified Outside Salesperson does not earn sufficient compensation that would keep his or her annual earnings equal to 110 percent of the annual contractual scale paid to reporters in the same experience classification, the Publisher will make up the difference. The payment will be made by February 15 of the following year.

C. Commissionable accounts will be defined by the Publisher, for the purpose of calculating this minimum, according to the standards currently in effect.

D. Compensation programs and total compensation for all Circulation District Managers will be determined by the Publisher, however, in no case will the total yearly compensation for Circulation District Managers be less than 90% of the annual contractual scale paid to reporters in the same experience classification.

4. An option for direct deposit of payroll payments to employees will be provided by the Publisher if practicable and at no additional cost to the Publisher.

5. Any deduction from an employee's paycheck will be made on a weekly basis if practical.

6. In the application of Article IV, previous experience in respect to editorial classifications (exclusive of all other classifications) will include any regular employment in editorial capacity on any daily newspaper of comparable size or larger, news or feature syndicate, press association, recognized news magazine or equivalent. Regular employment in editorial capacity on a weekly newspaper should also be considered by the Publisher. However, this consideration will not necessarily be construed to mean that weekly experience will be given by the Publisher the same weight in assigning experience ratings as experience in the foregoing daily newspaper, feature syndicate, press association or recognized news magazine areas. In all other classifications experience will include all regular employment in comparable work.

7. There will be no reduction in wage rates, guarantees and differentials set forth in Articles IV, V, VI and VII during the life of this Agreement, except by mutual agreement.

8. The employees hired at, or advanced to, salary higher than the minimum herein provided will be credited with the experience rating equivalent to the years required for the minimum which is nearest to his or her salary, and any differential above the minimum will be maintained through the experience step-ups.