NALC Bulletin - January 14,2005

Updated January 31, 2005



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	NALC Food Drive

No. 05-02 January 28, 2005

Topics in this issue:

NALC Executive Council Meets in Dallas
NALC Food Drive 2005
COLA

February 7-11!

NALC Executive Council Meets in Dallas

NALC President William H. Young and members of the NALC Executive Council will convene in Dallas, Texas February 7-11 to discuss key issues facing the union this year including problems on the workroom floor, movement of postal reform legislation through Congress, and conducting a National Rap Session later in the year.

Joining Young will be the other nine National Resident Officers, three National Trustees, and 15 National Business Agents, along with several staff members from NALC Headquarters.

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Stamp Out Hunger!

Food Drive Branches Near 1,000;
Coordinator Packets to be Mailed

Nearly 1,000 branches have already registered to participate in the 2005 NALC National Food Drive that will be conducted on Saturday, May 14 in all 50 states and U.S. jurisdictions.

Updated coordinator’s packets that include order forms for FREE Campbell Soup/Postal Service postcards for delivery to postal customers will be mailed out in early February to branches that are registered for the 2005 drive.

Branches that have not yet registered for the 13th annual drive should do so immediately or risk delay in receiving postcards and other materials for the drive.

The packets will also include a new 10-minute DVD on the food drive for showing at branch meetings, stand-ups, and at gatherings of other civic, union and fraternal organizations.

As the NALC Bulletin went to press, 961 NALC branches have registered for the 2005 drive. Branches must renew their registration for the 2005 drive to receive the postcard order form and other materials. Again this year, the NALC is offering both English and Spanish-language cards. The kits include separate order forms for each.

Registration forms were included with a letter mailed in December by NALC President William H. Young to all branch presidents.

Questions about the drive should be directed to Drew Von Bergen, national coordinator, at (202) 662-2489, by email at vonbergen@nalc.org or by mail at NALC headquarters.

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Projected COLA Accumulation
Drops to $192.40 in January

The projected accumulation for the fifth of eight regular cost-of-living adjustments under the 2001-2006 National Agreement decreased to $192.40 following release January 19 of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for December.

The fifth COLA will be based on inflation between July 2004 and January 2005 and will be payable in the second full pay period following release of the January 2005 index.

The $192.40 projected annual accumulation was a sharp drop from the $301.40 projection following the November report, due to a corresponding drop over the month in the CPI-W. The new projection equals 8 1/2 cents per hour or $7.40 per pay period.

The accumulation toward the 2006 retiree COLA dropped to 0.5 percent following release of the November CPI-W. The 2006 retiree COLA will be based on the increase in the average CPI-W between the third quarter of 2004 and the third quarter of 2005.

Retirees under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) will receive a cost-of-living adjustment of 2.7 percent in 2005 and Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) retirees will receive a COLA of 2 percent. Under current law, FERS COLA increases are set at 2 percent if the CPI increase is between 2 percent and 3 percent.

The 2005 COLA for Federal Employees Compensation Act (FECA) participants was finalized, based on the December report, at 3.4 percent. The 2005 FECA COLA reflects the increase in the CPI-W between December 2003 and December 2004. It is aplicable only in cases where death or disability occurred more than one year prior to the adjustment’s effective date.

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