INFLATION

jware

Active Member
Seems To Me That We're About Due A Cost Of Living Raise. All You Hear On The News Is How Inflation Is On The Rise And The Dollar Is Worth Less. Not Sure Of The Formula Used To Caculate Weather Or Not We Get A Raise. We Did Get One A Couple Years Ago, I Believe It Was $.12 An Hour. Anyone Out There Heard Anything
 

IDoLessWorkThanMost

Well-Known Member
ost-of-Living (COLA)
All seniority employees who have completed their appropriate wage progression schedule shall be
covered by the provisions of a cost-of-living allowance, as set forth in this Agreement.
Employees who have not completed their appropriate wage progression on the effective date of a COLA
increase, shall receive the adjustment on a prospective basis on the date they complete their wage
progression schedules.


The amount of the cost-of-living allowance shall be determined as provided below on the basis of the
"Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, CPI-W (Revised Series using
1982-1984 Expenditure Patterns), All Items (1982-84= 100), published by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor" and referred to herein as the "Index".


Effective August 1, 2003 2009, and every August 1 thereafter during the life of the Agreement, a costof-
living allowance will be calculated on the basis of the difference between the Index for May 2003
2009 (published June 2003 2009) and every May thereafter, and the base Index for May 2002 2008
(published June 2002 2008) and every May thereafter, as follows:


For every 0.2 point increase in the Index, over and above the base (prior year’s) Index plus 3.0% there
will be a 1 cent increase in the hourly wage rates payable on August 1, 2003 2009, and every August 1
thereafter. These increases shall only be payable if they equal five ($.05) cents in a year.
All cost-of-living allowances paid under this Agreement will become and remain a fixed part of the base
wage rate for all job classifications. A decline in the Index shall not result in the reduction of
classification base wage rates.


Mileage paid employees will receive cost-of-living allowances on the basis of .25 mills per mile for each
1 cent increase in hourly wages, subject to the threshold set forth above.


In the event the appropriate Index figure is not issued before the effective date of the cost-of-living
adjustment, the cost-of-living adjustment that is required will be made at the beginning of the first (1st)
pay period after the receipt of the Index.


In the event that the Index shall be revised or discontinued and in the event the Bureau of Labor
Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, does not issue information which would enable the Employer and
the Union to know what the Index would have been had it not been revised or discontinued, then the
Employer and the Union will meet, negotiate, and agree upon an appropriate substitute for the Index.
Upon the failure of the parties to agree within sixty (60) days, thereafter, the issue of an appropriate
substitute shall be submitted to an arbitrator for determination. The arbitrator’s decision shall be final
and binding.
 

BigBrownSanta

Well-Known Member
A couple of weeks ago, CPI was reported as 4.25%.

The report said that in the last 3 months inflation had been higher than forecasted.

It's too bad this newly ratified contract has our payraises split and paid at 2 different times of the year, while the COLA only gets paid in the August payraise.
 

paidslave

Well-Known Member
Seems To Me That We're About Due A Cost Of Living Raise. All You Hear On The News Is How Inflation Is On The Rise And The Dollar Is Worth Less. Not Sure Of The Formula Used To Caculate Weather Or Not We Get A Raise. We Did Get One A Couple Years Ago, I Believe It Was $.12 An Hour. Anyone Out There Heard Anything


I agree! We should be due for a COLA increase.
 
J

JonFrum

Guest
No one under any circumstances will receive a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) during the first nineteen months of the new contract. The earliest possible date will be August 1, 2009.

The COLA formula is rather stingy, so you do not get compensated for the first 3% raise in inflation. Further, if the inflation rate exceeds 3%, it must exceed it by more than 5-cents since only a raise of more than 5-cents will actually trigger a payment. If inflation rose only 3-point-something percent year after year, you would not get a COLA raise, even as these increases kept piling on top of one another over time.

No new driver will be eligible for a COLA until he has completed the new three year progression. Existing drivers must have completed their two-and-one-half year progression.

New and existing part-timers must complete their five year progression. Which means it is nearly impossible to be hired during this new contract and get a COLA raise.

New Inside/Inside Article 22.3 people must complete a three year progression. Current Inside/Inside people must complete their two year progression.

Combo Inside/Air Drivers must wait two years on the Air Driving portion, and possibly several years on the Inside portion if they have less than five year's company seniority.

Many people will leave the company before completing their progression and so their replacement will start all over from scratch with a new progression. Especially in the case of part-timers, the endless turnover may mean COLA raises will be unatainable to many.

In recent memory we have only received a single twelve-cent COLA raise in 2006.

And yet some members see a flier that says we're covered by a cost-of-living formula and vote "Yes." I don't get it.

[See Article 33 - Cost of Living]
 
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