Why no COLA raise this year?

BigBrownSanta

Well-Known Member
After reading through the COLA language in the old contract and the new contract, I noticed that none of the wording has changed except for the dates.

(Old contract)
Article 33 paragraph 4

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

(New contract)
Article 33 paragraph 4

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

Since the wording is the same in both contracts, there is no good reason that the contract would only allow for a COLA raise in only 4 out of the 5 years of the contract.

It's my belief that the COLA raise for August 1, 2008 IS covered under the 2002-2008 contract, NOT the newly ratified contract. Since we are still under the old contract in regards to economics, then the COLA raise should be calculated and paid on August 1st.

Can anyone out there who has a real understanding of our union contract (jon frum where are you?) show where the contract says there will be no COLA raise for 2008?
 

Mike Hawk

Well-Known Member
I think we lose because the old contract says "the life of this agreement", it's life was cut short when the new one was ratafied. Even if it's life was not cut short, Aug. 1st 2008 when the COLA happens is under the new contract, and the new contract has no COLA for Aug. 1 2008.

Thats my thoughts on it anyways, but if you are looking for why, ask Hoffa he looks like the only one that knows.
 

Babagounj

Strength through joy
Please note and remember this major error the next time your elected union reps. try to shove a contract at you. They just had to have this one passed in record time; remember them saying " this is a good contract , vote yes ".
Shame on everyone who was conned.
 

BigBrownSanta

Well-Known Member
I think we lose because the old contract says "the life of this agreement", it's life was cut short when the new one was ratafied. Even if it's life was not cut short, Aug. 1st 2008 when the COLA happens is under the new contract, and the new contract has no COLA for Aug. 1 2008.

Thats my thoughts on it anyways, but if you are looking for why, ask Hoffa he looks like the only one that knows.

I keep hearing that the new contract is in effect except for the economics. If that's true, then the "economic life" of the previous contract is still in effect and we should be getting a COLA raise on Aug 1st based on the old contract.
 

Mike Hawk

Well-Known Member
I keep hearing that the new contract is in effect except for the economics. If that's true, then the "economic life" of the previous contract is still in effect and we should be getting a COLA raise on Aug 1st based on the old contract.
I think by "economics" they mean raises, which come August 1st. Even so, Aug. 1st 2008 is covered by the new contract in full, including economics which still means no COLA, since the COLA happens on August 1st.

Don't get me wrong I am all for a COLA, it's just the logic part of my brain says we wont have much of a leg to stand on.
 

soberups

Pees in the brown Koolaid
Please note and remember this major error the next time your elected union reps. try to shove a contract at you. They just had to have this one passed in record time; remember them saying " this is a good contract , vote yes ".
Shame on everyone who was conned.
Try to remember that the company was also in favor of this offer and was encouraging a "yes" vote. And it was the company that was willing to go into negotiations early in order to resolve the pension issue and the new federal pension laws that took effect this year.
My union reps didnt "shove" a contract offer at me. They negotiated an offer with UPS and submitted it to the membership for a vote. I voted "no"....but a majority of the bargaining unit voted "yes". Therefore, the proposal was ratified. Its called democracy. We got the contract we voted for, and if we dont like it than we should use it as a learning experience to help us hold the company, the union, and ourselves as individual voters more accountable when this contract expires in 5 years.
 

BigBrownSanta

Well-Known Member
I think by "economics" they mean raises, which come August 1st. Even so, Aug. 1st 2008 is covered by the new contract in full, including economics which still means no COLA, since the COLA happens on August 1st.

Don't get me wrong I am all for a COLA, it's just the logic part of my brain says we wont have much of a leg to stand on.

Well, you can't fault me for trying though. lol.
 

BigBrownSanta

Well-Known Member
Try to remember that the company was also in favor of this offer and was encouraging a "yes" vote. And it was the company that was willing to go into negotiations early in order to resolve the pension issue and the new federal pension laws that took effect this year.
My union reps didnt "shove" a contract offer at me. They negotiated an offer with UPS and submitted it to the membership for a vote. I voted "no"....but a majority of the bargaining unit voted "yes". Therefore, the proposal was ratified. Its called democracy. We got the contract we voted for, and if we dont like it than we should use it as a learning experience to help us hold the company, the union, and ourselves as individual voters more accountable when this contract expires in 5 years.

I agree with the learning experience part. I have a Word document on the desktop of my computer named "Contract Proposals for 2013". I keep it on the desktop so that I can be reminded to think about it every so often. Everytime something like this comes up, I open the file and type in another proposal. It's too bad issues can't be resolved quicker than 5 years though.
 

Babagounj

Strength through joy
Try to remember that the company was also in favor of this offer and was encouraging a "yes" vote. And it was the company that was willing to go into negotiations early in order to resolve the pension issue and the new federal pension laws that took effect this year.
My union reps didnt "shove" a contract offer at me. They negotiated an offer with UPS and submitted it to the membership for a vote. I voted "no"....but a majority of the bargaining unit voted "yes". Therefore, the proposal was ratified. Its called democracy. We got the contract we voted for, and if we dont like it than we should use it as a learning experience to help us hold the company, the union, and ourselves as individual voters more accountable when this contract expires in 5 years.
And where was it listed in the proposed contract that Hoffa had to give up the last eight months of our existing contract ??
 

UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)

Well-Known Member
The old contract expires 7/31/08. The portions of the new contract not already in effect will begin 8/1/08. If I read this correctly, it means that our last COLA was 8/1/07 and our next will be 8/1/09.
 

705red

Browncafe Steward
You never receive a cola in the first year of a new contract. The first raise should be negotiated to reflect the cola in it. This is why the contract only speaks of 8-1-09 through its duration. Cola language is in place during the life of the contract incase the economy hits as it has. Its another down side to settlling 10 months early.IMO
 
J

JonFrum

Guest
The old contract expires 7/31/08. The portions of the new contract not already in effect will begin 8/1/08. If I read this correctly, it means that our last COLA was 8/1/07 and our next will be 8/1/09.

The Old Contract expired in its entirety on Dec. 19, 2007, and the New Contract became effective in its entirety on Dec. 19, 2007.

The IBT Constitution says that a Master Contract isn't ratified until each and every one of its Supplements is ratified. There were five Supplements that didn't pass the first time, so they had to be renegotiated and when UPS made better offers, they passed the second time. The last Supplement's votes were counted and declared ratified on Dec. 19, 2007 and with that the entire New Contract became fully effective.

The New Contract consists of all the unchanged language of the Old Contract, with the newly voted-on additions added, and the newly struck-out language deleted. The New Contract is the National Master and all the Supplements taken as a whole, covering one nation-wide bargaining unit. Locals 705 and 710 each have seperate contracts from the rest of us and from each other. They each constitute seperate bargaining units.

Certain clauses in the New Contract have specific dates that they kick-in, (like the timetable for the five year's worth of raises), but it is still accurate to say the entire New Contract had been in effect since Dec. 19, 2007.

There is no COLA formula in effect for August 1, 2008. If there was, most of us would be getting about a 15-cent cost-of-living raise, in addition to our 35-cent raise.
 

UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)

Well-Known Member
You never receive a cola in the first year of a new contract. The first raise should be negotiated to reflect the cola in it. This is why the contract only speaks of 8-1-09 through its duration. Cola language is in place during the life of the contract incase the economy hits as it has. Its another down side to settlling 10 months early.IMO

On the other hand, our contract is settled and you are dealing with the uncertainty of contract negotiation and a pending work stoppage. IMO.
 

I GOT ONE MORE

Well-Known Member
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.
 

BigBrownSanta

Well-Known Member
The Old Contract expired in its entirety on Dec. 19, 2007, and the New Contract became effective in its entirety on Dec. 19, 2007.

The IBT Constitution says that a Master Contract isn't ratified until each and every one of its Supplements is ratified. There were five Supplements that didn't pass the first time, so they had to be renegotiated and when UPS made better offers, they passed the second time. The last Supplement's votes were counted and declared ratified on Dec. 19, 2007 and with that the entire New Contract became fully effective.

The New Contract consists of all the unchanged language of the Old Contract, with the newly voted-on additions added, and the newly struck-out language deleted. The New Contract is the National Master and all the Supplements taken as a whole, covering one nation-wide bargaining unit. Locals 705 and 710 each have seperate contracts from the rest of us and from each other. They each constitute seperate bargaining units.

Certain clauses in the New Contract have specific dates that they kick-in, (like the timetable for the five year's worth of raises), but it is still accurate to say the entire New Contract had been in effect since Dec. 19, 2007.

There is no COLA formula in effect for August 1, 2008. If there was, most of us would be getting about a 15-cent cost-of-living raise, in addition to our 35-cent raise.

Thanks JonFrum. I knew if anyone had the answer, it would be you.
 
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