COLA increase?

I GOT ONE MORE

Well-Known Member
I googled "ups cola" and came up with this among the results. The following news article answers some questions I had about the likelihood of a COLA adjustment at our Aug 1 wage increase. Please read it and respond for the forum. Personally, I'm a little disappointed with our leadership, in at least two ways.

No Cost of Living Raise for UPS Teamsters
June 20, 2008: All UPS Teamsters will be missing something this summer: a cost of living raise of 15¢ per hour.

Gasoline and food prices are skyrocketing. Inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W), went up 4.5 percent from May 2007 to May 2008. This is the period used in Article 33 of our contract.

When that index goes over three percent, we are supposed to get a cost of living adjustment (COLA).

Calculations by Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) show that the Article 33 formula should give us a 15¢ additional raise, due to the high cost of living.

Instead, our negotiators left this year’s COLA out of the early contract deal. It will be in effect for 2009, if inflation continues to run high.

Curiously, DHL Teamsters did get a COLA raise this year.

While 15¢ is not a lot, look at this way. For a full-timer who averages 46.6 hours per week, that would be $390 this year, and $1,950 over the life of the contract. That would fill your tank a few times.

Look at it another way: a full-time UPSer who gets a 70¢ raise (with half of it delayed until February 2009) will be getting a 2.5 percent raise, but prices have gone up 4.5 percent. Thus we lost two percent, or 57¢ per hour, in buying power. A 15¢ COLA raise would have at least softened that loss to our standard of living.

Most of us don’t think about how important a cost of living clause is until inflation bites us in the wallet. We need to plan ahead and get a much better cost of living clause in our next contract.

Who has such a clause? Our International Union officials do! They get a full 4.5 percent COLA raise this July. James Hoffa’s salary of $277,777 will go up $12,500 due to that COLA adjustment. And he gets a “housing allowance” and other bonuses and perks which add $135,457 to that amount, putting him well over $400,000 a year.

Maybe that’s why he forgot to take care of that 15¢ COLA for us.
 
B

brownandout

Guest
hey u guys voted HOFFA in...........where im from he didnt get our votes.........HE LOST IN OUR LOCAL.........
 

happyboy

Well-Known Member
Just get your own cola, if they won't give it to you take it. Goof off for ten minutes 3 times a week. Just about whe your ready to clock out, goof off, go to the restroom. talk with the clerk, act like you are dooing something important. $42 X 30 min= 21 a week or just over $1000 a year. Problem solved.
 

I GOT ONE MORE

Well-Known Member
I thought this info would have invoked better banter amongst the forum. While I am not particularly caught up in a 15 cent per hour increase, because it really isn't that much...... my point is Mr. Hoffa should have also participated in not having an increase.

I believe UPS employees are the largest contributor of dues to the union..... and for our Teamster leader to gain an extra grand, monthly.....well, that's a little insulting.

I have 72 bucks deducted promptly from my paycheck on the first of each month.

That money pays the salary of my union administrators.

While I am pleased and grateful with what collective bargaining and union solidarity has achieved on my behalf, I am still bewildered by the detachment of leadership compensation.

I really don't have a problem with Mr. Hoffa pulling in about 8000 bucks a week.........

It's the $390 a year I'm missing out on, when he's getting $12,500.

LEADERSHIP STARTS AT THE TOP
 

New Englander

Well-Known Member
I thought this info would have invoked better banter amongst the forum. While I am not particularly caught up in a 15 cent per hour increase, because it really isn't that much...... my point is Mr. Hoffa should have also participated in not having an increase.

I believe UPS employees are the largest contributor of dues to the union..... and for our Teamster leader to gain an extra grand, monthly.....well, that's a little insulting.

I have 72 bucks deducted promptly from my paycheck on the first of each month.

That money pays the salary of my union administrators.

While I am pleased and grateful with what collective bargaining and union solidarity has achieved on my behalf, I am still bewildered by the detachment of leadership compensation.

I really don't have a problem with Mr. Hoffa pulling in about 8000 bucks a week.........

It's the $390 a year I'm missing out on, when he's getting $12,500.

LEADERSHIP STARTS AT THE TOP

So should Teamster contracts be exactly the same across the board for all companies represented?

You know, no individual contracts just one Teamster Contract for all?
 

705red

Browncafe Steward
So should Teamster contracts be exactly the same across the board for all companies represented?

You know, no individual contracts just one Teamster Contract for all?
I dont believe thats what he/she is trying to say here. I believe this poster is upset that hoffa allowed the company to give you split raises to save thousands of dollars per employee over the five years and failed to insure cola for this year saving the company even more money now over the duration of your career.

To respond to your 1st sentence absolutely not. You cant compare even a dhl to ups or any other freight company to another. The reason we are better paid than most is due to us working for a very profitable company. One of the reasons this company is very profitable has alot to do with the amount of under paid part timers. It also helps when hoffa allows ups to cut the medical benefits from all new ptimers saving the company thousands more per year on every new hire. Crap you cant blame ups for this they offered it and it was excepted, you should blame your teamster leadership and the members that voted for it without reading it through. That 15 cents over a 30 year career for a ftimer at 8 hours per day eguals $9,360 gone.


Ups for many years has also had great vision down the road and been ahead of the game from logistics to getting involved with freight which has lead to great investment oppurtunities and growth.
 
Last edited:

I GOT ONE MORE

Well-Known Member
705red has it right. It doesn't fly with me that Mr. Hoffa will enjoy this benefit while UPSers will not.

And to add more salt to the wound........the way I understand how the COLA is calculated, we likely won't see any adjustment next year. In short, this years CPI is compared with last years CPI to obtain the numbers for the formula to calculate a potential increase.

Well, things would have to go a hell of alot higher next year to justify a COLA increase comparing next years index with the high one we have this year.

This one is gone for good.

I hope that $12,500 spends well, Mr. Hoffa
 
U

union man

Guest
I'm lost, we should receive this because we are still under the old contract.Monetay issues were not to take affect till Aug. 1st. Contract reads the same as 2002 and 1997. I'm grateful for the union but this is wrong. A small goup of us have contacted the nlrb and have a case worker assigned to us. Please post anything up here that could help like proof that your local officers received a cola.
 

Overpaid Union Thug

Well-Known Member
I'm lost, we should receive this because we are still under the old contract.Monetay issues were not to take affect till Aug. 1st. Contract reads the same as 2002 and 1997. I'm grateful for the union but this is wrong. A small goup of us have contacted the nlrb and have a case worker assigned to us. Please post anything up here that could help like proof that your local officers received a cola.

We are under the new contract now. The remainder of the old contract was negated by all the yes voters and the new contract was ratified early. Most people saw the drastic change (for the better) in our pensions and voted yes without reading much, or any, of the other proposed changes to the contract.
 

FromBluetoBrown

Well-Known Member
Just get your own cola, if they won't give it to you take it. Goof off for ten minutes 3 times a week. Just about whe your ready to clock out, goof off, go to the restroom. talk with the clerk, act like you are dooing something important. $42 X 30 min= 21 a week or just over $1000 a year. Problem solved.



Actually we were told if we did anything ie, bathroom, washing hands before clocking out, Automatic termination.
 

Mike Hawk

Well-Known Member
I hope we don't get a cola increase, $1 at the pop machine is enough as it is!:happy-very:

But really that’s a pretty high double standard Hoffa has, giving himself a COLA but not UPSers. Does he really need it with 400k a year already?
 

upsdude

Well-Known Member
If you're upset over the cola, wait until they (Teamsters) take half of your raise. Read the contract, they can take half of your raise for H&W.

I voted no by the way.
 
Top