Thread: W2 Employee's and Yearly Cost of Living Wage Increase

Originally Posted by LAM

We all know that in reality a cost of living increase is not the same as a performance based raise/wage increase, etc. I'm wondering in these tough economic times how many people have still been getting this wage increase EVERY year since 2000. If you have or have not and are a "typical" W2 employee with a salary based off an hourly rate please state such.

Great thread. I cannot accurately answer because I've been living outstide of the US for about 10 year more, or less.

But statistically, wages are stagnant.

Not just stagnant, but declining since 2000, but to 1970.

I'm interested in hearing responses.

Posters & readers should note, the difference between "nominal" and "real" dollars.

We still get a standard 1-3% cost of living adjustment every year....although I don't know how much longer that is going to persist...plus an annual bonus (which can range from 1-50% of your salary). This applies to salaried entry level to upper mgmt....exec mgmt has a complete different setup.

Originally Posted by Big Smoothy

Great thread. I cannot accurately answer because I've been living outstide of the US for about 10 year more, or less.

But statistically, wages are stagnant.

Not just stagnant, but declining since 2000, but to 1970.

I'm interested in hearing responses.

Posters & readers should note, the difference between "nominal" and "real" dollars.

I should have asked people to go back to 1990.

I know we got cost of living increases in the Navy from '89 to '95. When I returned to school after the Navy and finished again in '96 and re-entered the workforce full-time I was working in IT so wages were rising from the increase in Internet usage and telecom, etc. In 2001 I got laid off from Agilent Tech when our sales dropped from 10B to 1B in 3 quarters and our total company payroll was 1B, they laid off 30K of us out of about 45k the next year. That's really the last year I worked in a "corporate" environment and have been wondering what's been going on in the wage department since.

Originally Posted by lnvanry

We still get a standard 1-3% cost of living adjustment every year....although I don't know how much longer that is going to persist...plus an annual bonus (which can range from 1-50% of your salary). This applies to salaried entry level to upper mgmt....exec mgmt has a complete different setup.

what industry/market do you work in?

Yup, our wages are supposed to increase something like whatever the national inflation rate is plus 1%. It isn't really matching inflation in the area for this local though. Shitty money draining provinces like Quebec and NewFoundLand bring down the average and how they measure inflation is bogus. It should look at how much housing prices, rent, food, etc. cost from one year to the next.

In 2007 we started at 37.13 an hour and this year we get 43.37.

http://www.local92.com/uploads/pdf/a...ments_2009.pdf

O yah, I have no idea what a W2 job is but I put this up anyways.

$43 an hour? Fucking unions.....

Originally Posted by TheGreatSatan

$43 an hour? Fucking unions.....

Fridays are time and a half, weekends doubletime, anything over 10 hrs is doubletime. We work minimum 10 hours and if you work over 10 hrs they have to provide a second hot meal or else give us 30 bucks tax free. There's a lot of other perks too

I don't know how it works in Canada, but in the US it's the unions that are bleeding us dry.

Originally Posted by TheGreatSatan

I don't know how it works in Canada, but in the US it's the unions that are bleeding us dry.

Yep

Originally Posted by TheGreatSatan

$43 an hour? Fucking unions.....

It's what the market bears, union or non-union.

$43 an hour is not a lot of money these days. It's a gross of $86,000 per year.

Originally Posted by TheGreatSatan

I don't know how it works in Canada, but in the US it's the unions that are bleeding us dry.

only 12% of the US work force is unionized and less than 50% have bennies even close to the ones that they used to get in Detroit, etc. back in the early 80's it was about 20% before Reagan came to town.

Originally Posted by Big Smoothy

It's what the market bears, union or non-union.

$43 an hour is not a lot of money these days. It's a gross of $86,000 per year.

It might not be tons, but I'd still kill for that salary right now. Significantly higher.

Originally Posted by Big Smoothy

It's what the market bears, union or non-union.

$43 an hour is not a lot of money these days. It's a gross of $86,000 per year.

It's true, the average house up here goes for 689,700.00 and rent for a one bedroom is 1,666.00. This is just a temp job for me while I decide what I want to go back to school for and its a fallback job in case I ever get laid off or fired from my career one.

Fort McMurray - Alberta Labour Market Information

If I make $12 an hour I'm all

Originally Posted by TheGreatSatan

If I make $12 an hour I'm all

McDonald's starts you out at 18$ with benefits

Originally Posted by LikeARock

McDonald's starts you out at 18$ with benefits

STFU..seriously..?

Originally Posted by LAM

STFU..seriously..?

Originally Posted by danzik17

It might not be tons, but I'd still kill for that salary right now. Significantly higher.

Me, too.

I've never made that wage.

As for unions, as stated above by another poster, only 12% of the US workforce is unionized.

I think if you remove the government unionized workers, the private sector is only 8% unionized.

I don't understand all of the attention unions get. (Negative attention, that is.)

Originally Posted by LAM

what industry/market do you work in?

aerospace and defense

Originally Posted by Big Smoothy

Me, too.

I've never made that wage.

As for unions, as stated above by another poster, only 12% of the US workforce is unionized.

I think if you remove the government unionized workers, the private sector is only 8% unionized.

I don't understand all of the attention unions get. (Negative attention, that is.)

gov't unions are CUSH though...particularly federal gov't (GS grade) pensions. I've heard of some crazy stories about people working their last 20th year with mad overtime making 150k"ish" and then the USG uses that 20th year income as their BASELINE for their pension...even if years 1-19 they only made 70k a year. The baseline is then adjusted for inflation every year too...its unbelievable.

Originally Posted by lnvanry

gov't unions are CUSH though...particularly federal gov't (GS grade) pensions. I've heard of some crazy stories about people working their last 20th year with mad overtime making 150k"ish" and then the USG uses that 20th year income as their BASELINE for their pension...even if years 1-19 they only made 70k a year. The baseline is then adjusted for inflation every year too...its unbelievable.

GICH

We went two years without cost of living and merit increases. They were reinstated this year. Got a promotion and a 15% pay increase this year. Salary works out to $30/hr not including benefits.

Originally Posted by Big Smoothy

Me, too.

I've never made that wage.

As for unions, as stated above by another poster, only 12% of the US workforce is unionized.

I think if you remove the government unionized workers, the private sector is only 8% unionized.

I don't understand all of the attention unions get. (Negative attention, that is.)

They get the negative attention because that's what the companies broadcast and there's a lot of people upset about how little they get paid.

Originally Posted by TheGreatSatan

I don't know how it works in Canada, but in the US it's the unions that are bleeding us dry.

Unions play a small part, but it is the top 1% that is bleeding America dry.

Originally Posted by lnvanry

gov't unions are CUSH though...particularly federal gov't (GS grade) pensions. I've heard of some crazy stories about people working their last 20th year with mad overtime making 150k"ish" and then the USG uses that 20th year income as their BASELINE for their pension...even if years 1-19 they only made 70k a year. The baseline is then adjusted for inflation every year too...its unbelievable.

that is definitely more accurate than not..my brother-n-law works for the federal parks dept. in SF and just got put in charge of a new crew of about 10 older guys that are getting short to retirement. he has been tasked to get these guys ready to exit, none of them have any official titles, have had performance reviews in over 10 years, etc. he said he feels like Gabe Kotter and the Sweathogs.

Originally Posted by lnvanry

gov't unions are CUSH though...particularly federal gov't (GS grade) pensions. I've heard of some crazy stories about people working their last 20th year with mad overtime making 150k"ish" and then the USG uses that 20th year income as their BASELINE for their pension...even if years 1-19 they only made 70k a year. The baseline is then adjusted for inflation every year too...its unbelievable.

Yes, Ivanry, this is....a sham.

A small number of people can do this...the rest of us are.....S.O.L.


As they're gov workers, who does, really pay?

Got the cost of living increase every one of my 23 Air Force years. (Obviously some were bigger than others.) Haven't seen one since retiring in '03. Currently working for a Department of Energy contractor.

Originally Posted by TheGreatSatan

$43 an hour? Fucking unions.....

Isn't that the truth. Constant whining about higher raises or additional benefits every year and ridiculous pension plans to boot. Any city with a union continues to get bled dry while the rest of the people foot the bill with higher fees and taxes. The citizens in Jacksonville Florida wouldn't put up with the tax raises to support the Union hostage negotiations so 15 people were let go instead to make up the money shortfall. That's what GM should have done. It will be a glorious day when all the unions are gone (No reason to have them anymore anyway) and everyone can compete for the jobs on the same ground. Hmmmm...Sounds like and outsourcing opportunity...