. . . HOW DID THIS LOOPHOLE HAPPEN? I WONDER IF UPS OR THE TEAMSTERS NOTICED THIS LOOPHOLE? . . .
It's not a loophole. It didn't go unnoticed. It's official policy.
For decades Teamster and UPS negotiators have been trying to save the Company money by cutting wages. The concessionary bargaining "trick" they use is to make the cuts effective prospectively, that is, only for New Hires. The theory is the "unborn" aren't here yet, so few existing employees will care much about them. The unborn don't vote on contracts or in union elections. So every time a new contract is negotiated, there are more cuts for future employees; but the contract is sold to existing members as an agreement that not only avoided cuts to them, but even got them raises!
Instead of making the cuts permanent, which would have been too dramatic and not sellable, the cuts are for a limited time through a device called Progression. The progression scale holds out the possibility that a New Hire will climb the scale and be making full rate after three years, if you are a full-timer; or at least a better rate after five years, if you are a part-timer.
The progression raises are not merit raises. They are not intended to be fair. They are intended to catch-up the New Hire full-timer to where he should have been all along. And to partly catch-up the New Hire part-timer to his older co-workers.
New Hires get royally screwed, but the progression system limits the length and degree of the screwing with each passing year.
In the past, the general wage increases were bigger, ($1.00 in 2007.) This time, the 35-cent raise is small and looks even smaller when compared to someone getting those catch-up progression raises.