This week your pockets get a little heavier as the 2023 raises kick in. The chart, from the contract highlighter, below tells the story.
To get a better picture of how this affects you let’s look at the Chairman’s report from the September union meeting….
You may notice that the COLA amount of $2.15 has already exceeded the projected $1.78 listed in the 2023 Contract Highlighter. The power of this benefit continues to help members keep up with the increased costs of living. Almost as important is the fact that COLA is added to your straight-time wages to determine the ten percent company contribution to your 401(k).
Your 401(k)
Let’s look at the affect of this raise and COLA on your retirement account. The combination of the Hourly wage of $39.21 plus COLA of $2.15 = $41.36. Now multiply that by the 2080 straight-time hours in a year and this totals an annual wage of $86,028.80. Here is the ten percent negotiated company contribution to your retirement.
Annual Wage: 86,028.80 x 10% Company Contribution = $8,602.88
For fun let’s multiply that by the 4.5 years of this agreement to determine how good a deal this really is.
$8,602.88 x 4.5 = $38,712.96 (Total Company Contribution over life of agreement at current rate)
How does this compare to the median 401(k) in America? A quick search reveals….
So, if the median American 401(k) is $38,176 and a full-scale member of UAW Local 2250 earns $38,712.96 over the term of this national agreement a member will have more money in their retirement account in one contract than half the country has in their retirement account. All without matching a penny, all negotiated contributions on top of your hourly wage.
