Originally Posted by
kronan
It's interesting that you (and others) think our Union can succeed in negotiating some provisions while predicting nothing but abject failure in negotiating the provisions of the PSPP.
As to pay raises, one of the comments I made during the web survey was that I thought inflation was going to increase over the next decade so my preference would be annual raises in excess of what we received during CBA2015. Say, like a 3%, 4%, 4%, 3%.
I also commented that perhaps one of the years could be reduced to change our B plan to Cash over Cap and plus it up. Say, year 2 only a 1% longevity raise while changing our B plan to an 11% Cash over Cap.
Haven't done the math on it, but I'd suspect that the Total dollar value would be lower than a straight 4% raise-but it would be hard for the company to argue that they can't "afford" a change like that. And, there'd be some tax savings for those below the cap while obviously benefiting everyone above the cap as well.
I think we may be able to negotiate a reasonable raise to our earnings cap, but it won't be as high as many pilots want. I think we may be able to get "the higher of : IRS 401(K) or NB Capt 15 year Pay x 1,000 hours". This will put in a permanent mechanism that will rise about 1.5-3.0% per year, which will address our A Plan degrading over time via inflation.
I'd like to see the YOS increased so years 26-30 earn an additional 1% credit. That would increase max percentage from 50% to 55%, but I think this would be more difficult to add. The company is currently enjoying the fact most guys are working to age 64 or 65. It reduces the A Fund payouts by 4-5 years, and allows the company 4-5 more years to make contributions. Changing the Regulated Age was a Win/Win for the company in terms of A Fund health. (....the decrease in bond returns has hurt the company)
I believe the company would much rather increase our B Fund. Why? Because that was their last offer!!
We shouldn't kick our A Plan to the curb. Rather keep it, and increase the B fund toward our closest competitor. Increase from 9% to 12% to match UPS. Adding "Cash Over Cap" would be nice, but it will still be an "ask" they may not agree with.
If our NC was able to get current A Fund (with annual earnings cap adjustment) + 12% B fund --- I'd sing their praises!
In Unity,
DLax