What’s
your favorite COLA?
For those of us old enough to remember, there was a
television commercial in the late 1970’s that questioned the differences
between certain COLAs and the one unCOLA. Looking back over the last 30
years, NALC has taken a steadfast approach when deciding which side to take
in the COLA vs. unCOLA war. The COLA I want to discuss doesn’t come in a can
or bottle. It’s the COLA that comes in our paychecks every two weeks.
After reading a recent NALC bulletin, I wasn’t surprised to
see the accumulated cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) stands to be $956
annually. That $956 annually is equivalent to 46 cents per hour, or $36.78
a pay period. It’s been said the union is only as good as it’s most recent
grievance settlement. Some of us have short memories. What has the NALC
done for me lately? Why do I pay union dues with my hard earned money?
There is no need to talk about exorbitant gas prices. I
don’t need to say that food prices are higher than the time before. I don’t
have to tell anyone about the cost of health insurance for their families.
What’s the point of all of this? During a time when consumer prices are
going through the ceiling and wages are moving in the opposite direction,
the NALC has a strategy for dealing with our economic fluctuations. In fact,
it has successfully negotiated the COLA into our National Agreement.
This COLA is not sugary sweet and full of empty calories.
This COLA is one in a series built directly into our progressive wage
structure. Since the NALC and the USPS have engaged in collective
bargaining, these COLAs have accounted for more than half of our wage
increases. The current projection will appear on paychecks in early
September following the release of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in
August. This will be the 3rd of 9 COLAs negotiated by the NALC
into the 2006-2011 National Agreement. These COLAs will be payable in March
and September through 2011 based on changes in the level of the CPI.
So the next time someone asks about a COLA, you may think
about something more important than a soda machine. In this day and age
when prices are rising and most wages are either stagnant or dropping, we
can boldly state that NALC members have the best COLA in town.
Fraternally,
Dave Kennedy
(NOTE: The accumulation
toward the 2009 retiree COLA was 4.5 percent in June following
the release of the May Consumer Price Index. The accumulation toward the
2008 FECA COLA was at 3.4 percent following the release in June of
the May 2008 CPI.)
