What’s In Your Contract?

Articles 5.0 and 5.1 – Compensation and Longevity

Article 5 is where wages and benefits live in our contract, except for leaves (in articles 12 and 13).

5.0 details the negotiated raises for the current term of the contract: 5% on July 1, 2017; 4% on July 1, 2018; 3% on July 1, 2019. Together with the parcel tax salary adjustment (more on that at our chapter meeting next week), our members will see a 15.875% increase over the three years of the contract – over 16% when you consider compound interest!

5.0.1 details the lump sum payment our members received on ratification of the contract in 2017. We negotiated a fixed-dollar lump sum payment because it provides extra benefit to our lowest-paid members, where percentage salary adjustments benefit our highest-paid members the most. It’s important that we make sure everyone gets a fair shake at affording life in the Bay Area.

5.02 details some salary adjustments for classes that have no incumbents, or did not for many years – these classes had fallen behind everyone else’s schedule, so when we hired a new shade and drapery worker the starting pay was only $17/hr.

COMMITTEE ALERT! There’s a committee in 5.0.2.4 that will start meeting soon to work on wages and hours for SNS workers. If you’re interesting in being involved, please contact Jesse Tangk so we can include you. We want lots of member representation on this committee.

5.1 Longevity Premium
To thank our most experienced members for sticking around, we have longevity premiums for members that have worked at least 10 or 15 years. At 10 years, it’s a 30 cent per hour premium, and at 15 years it’s 60 cents (up from a previous 40 cent premium). That works out to $24 or $48 per paycheck if you work full time.

New in this contract cycle, you don’t have to work a minimum schedule to qualify and previous city service counts for the 15 year level (it used to only count for the 10 year level).

Check your pay stub! If you have worked at least 10 years and are not currently receiving longevity pay, please let us know right away. The computer doesn’t always automatically set it up, so we need you to keep an eye out and report if you have a problem.

Next week we’ll look at 5.2 retirement, 5.3 health, and 5.4 dental (we get a lot of questions about these, so send me your questions and I’ll cover them in the explainer!)