ARTICLE 9 Salaries and Wages R2022

ARTICLE 9 Salaries and Wages

Section 9.1 Basic Annual Salary

Employees with career appointments before February 15, 2013 shall be paid and earn step increases according to the rates and waiting periods described in Section 9.2A and outlined in Table One.
Employees with career appointments on or after February 15, 2013 shall be paid and earn step increases according to the rates and waiting periods described in Section 9.2B and outlined in Table Two.
The basic annual salary schedule, with proportional application to hourly rate employees, for all grades and steps for those employees covered under the terms and conditions of this Agreement shall be increased as follows:
Effective November 19, 2022 – the basic annual salary for each grade and step of Table One and Table Two shall be increased by an amount equal to 1.3% of the basic annual salary for the grade and step in effect on September 20, 2022.
Effective November 18, 2023 – the basic annual salary for each grade and step of Table One and Table Two shall be increased by an amount equal to 1.3% of the basic annual salary for the grade and step in effect on September 20, 2022.
Effective November 16, 2024 – the basic annual salary for each grade and step of Table One and Table Two shall be increased by an amount equal to 1.3% of the basic annual salary for the grade and step in effect on September 20, 2022.
In addition to the above increases, for career employees hired after February 15, 2013, Steps BB, AA, and A will be increased effective November 19, 2022 by an additional 1.0% of the salary in effect on September 20, 2022. The entry Step BB rates as of November 19, 2022 shall be: Grade 4: $40,942 (Annual), $19.68 (Hourly); Grade 5: $42,568 (Annual), $20.47 (Hourly).

Explanation:

The underlined portions of these paragraphs mean that career Mail
Handlers will receive three general wage increases during the three-year term of the
2022 National Agreement. More specifically, Mail Handlers will receive 1.3% retroactive
to November 19, 2022, 1.3% effective on November 18, 2023, and 1.3% on November 16,
2024. In addition, as noted below, there are additional pay adjustments effective in both
November 2022 and no later than six months after ratification. For a Level 4 Mail Handler
at top step, the wage increases during the three years of the 2022 National Agreement –
not including COLA – will total $2,715, with each increase totaling $905. For a Level 5
Mail Handler at top step, these general wage increases – again not including COLA – will
total $2,760 over the three years of the contract, with each increase totaling approximately
$920. When projected COLA payments are added, these will provide additional increases
in base wages, over and above the general wage increases precisely described above. In
addition, the lower three steps for new career employees will be increased by an additional
1.0% of base pay effective in November 2022.

Section 9.3 Cost of Living Adjustment

1. Definitions
1. "Consumer Price Index" refers to the "National Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers," published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor (1967=100) and referred to herein as the "Index."
2. "Consumer Price Index Base" refers to the Consumer Price Index for the month of July 2022 [2019] and is referred to herein as the "Base Index."
2. Effective Dates of Adjustment Each eligible employee covered by this Agreement shall receive cost-of-living adjustments, upward, in accordance with the formula in 4.C, below, effective on the following dates:
   - the second full pay period after the release of the January 2023 [2020] Index
   - the second full pay period after the release of the July 2023 [2020] Index
   - the second full pay period after the release of the January 2024 [2021] Index
   - the second full pay period after the release of the July 2024 [2021] Index
   - the second full pay period after the release of the January 2022 [2019] Index
   - the second full pay period after the release of the July 2022 [2019] Index
3. The basic salary schedule provided for in Table One and Step P of Table Two of this Agreement shall be increased 1 cent per hour for each full 0.4 of a point increase in the applicable Index above the Base Index. For example, if the increase in the Index from January 2023 [January 2022] to July 2023 [January 2020] is 1.2 points, pay scales for employees in Table One and Step P of Table Two of this Agreement will be increased by 3 cents per hour. In no event will a decline in the Index below the Base Index result in a decrease in the pay scales provided for in this Agreement. Steps BB through O in the basic salary schedules provided for in Table Two of this Agreement shall receive COLAs calculated using the formula in this paragraph, adjusted proportionally as reflected in Table Two.

Explanation:

These changes ensure that all career employees covered by the tentative
agreement will receive six cost-of-living adjustments during calendar years
2023 through 2025, with the first COLA effective in March 2023. The exact
amount of the COLAs will be based on future increases in the Consumer
Price Index. As Mail Handlers know from previous years, because of largely
unpredictable fluctuations in the rate of inflation, economists have great
difficulty in accurately projecting the amount of these COLAs. For example,
the seven COLAs paid during the 40-month term of the 2016 National
Agreement averaged $345 per COLA, and the six COLAs paid during the
2019 National Agreement averaged $1,081 per COLA. If these averages
were to repeat themselves during the term of the 2022 National Agreement,
the COLA provision, by itself, could provide between $1,800 and $6,000 in
additional base wage increases over the next three years. Of course, should
inflation moderate, these guaranteed COLA payments will be lower, and
should inflation remain high, these guaranteed COLA payments could result
in large wage increases. That is why continuation of the COLA provision is
so important.

Section 9.7 Mail Handler Assistant Employees

In addition to the general increases provided in Section 9.1 above, MHAs will receive an increase of 1.0% annually, for a total of 2.3% effective November 19, 2022, 2.3% effective November 18, 2023, and 2.3% effective November 16, 2024.

All percentage increases are applied to the wage rates in effect on September 20, 2023.

In addition, the current MHA rate for Grade 4 and Grade 5 will be increased by $0.50 effective (PP25-2022) November 19, 2022. Also, effective no later than the first full pay period 180 days after ratification, a new step, Step B, will be added to the MHA wage scale for Grade 4 and Grade 5. Step B will be $0.50 higher than the Step A rate for RSC M4 for the respective wage in Grade 4 and Grade 5. The step waiting period to reach Step B will be 6 months. RSC M4 Step B will remain $0.50 higher than Step A in perpetuity; there will be no separate calculation for increases applied to this wage rate. Upon initial implementation, any MHA in RSC M4 with 6 months or more of relative standing will move to Step B.

Explanation:

For MHAs, the years covered by the new National Agreement will mean
three general wage increases, each one a full one percent above those
provided to career employees for a total of 2.3% in November 2022;
2.3% in November 2023; and 2.3% in November 2024. In addition, as
noted above, there will be an additional $0.50 per hour general wage
increase for MHAs effective on November 19, 2022, as well as an
additional $0.50 step increase for all MHAs with at least 180 days of
service no later than 6 months following ratification. At Level 4, the
MHA rate that was at $13.75 in 2013 and has recently been $17.32,
will immediately go to $18.22 per hour retroactively effective in
November 2022, and to $19.12 effective toward the end of 2023 for
MHAs with at least 180 days.

Elimination of Career Entry Step

Effective no later than the first full pay period 180 days after ratification, Step BB will be eliminated from the RSC M7 wage scale for designated activity codes: 120, 320, and 420. Step AA will become the new entry step. Employees in Step BB will advance to Step AA and will have their time in step waiting period reset to zero.

Waiting Period Between Steps

Effective no later than the first full pay period 180 days after ratification, the step waiting periods in the RSC M7 wage scale will be reduced from 52 weeks to 48 weeks between all steps. As of the implementation date, any employee who has at least 48 weeks in time in step credit will advance to the next step and will have their time in step credit reset. All other employees remain in the same step, retaining time in step credit.

Explanation:

In addition to the general wage increases and COLAs, the 2022 National
Agreement makes two changes to the wage scale for those career
employees appointed on or after February 15, 2013:

• Elimination of Step BB. As a result, the wage scale will be reduced
  from 18 to 17 steps.
• Reduction of the waiting period to advance to the next step on
  the wage scale from 52 weeks to 48 weeks.

The result of these two changes is that the time for a career mail
handler to move from the entry level step to the top step (P) has been
reduced by more than 2 years (from 17 years to less than 15 years), a
total reduction of 116 weeks.