I came across an old paystub from 2003.
My medical coverage cost me $599.76 in 2003.
On Jan 1 2004 the pilot cap was removed, we were told that everyone was losing it so it didnt matter, but the pilots got it back.
Based on 48 payments for 2010 I'll be paying $2928 , a nearly 500% increase!
What many do not realize is that this agreement continues to write a blank check to the company because of something else nobody told us back in 2003, that any overages in the costs from the Pilots, Flight Attendants and anyone else that has a cap gets added to the figure thats used to determine what we pay. Thats why our rates have increased by 500%.
Here's how I remember it being explained. Lets say the cost to the company to provide coverage to a group that has a cap goes up $100 million more than the cap allows them to pass on to that group, that $100 million gets ADDED to to the amount used to determine what we must pay. So the cost to the company of providing those caps gets passed onto us.
Dont blame the groups that were smart enough to keep their caps, the people who made that call are answerable to their membership. Our leaders generously agreed to do this and it doesnt even get couted as part of our contribution to bail out the company.($23 million a year just from M&R based on current headcount)
Another thing to consider is the company's use of part timers. Part timers save the company a lot of money, they lure them in by providing medical benifits. The more part timers the more the total cost for providing the benifit would go up. The savings from having part timers could be offset by the fact that having so many drives up the cost of providing medical benifits, BUT,,, the company has the ability to pass those costs onto all of us. They get the cost savings of part timers, we get the bill for what draws them in.
Not counting FSA my total for Health Care coverage went from $863.52/year in 2003 to $3395.52.A $2532/year increase or an equivilent additional paycut of $1.22/hr since 2003. So after we took a 25% paycut in 2003 we were supposed to get 5 annual 1.5% increases in pay, for a top paid mechanic that came out to $1.95, but our Insurance payments TO THE COMPANY ate up $1.22 of that increase, increase before inflation of .73/hr cents over the seven years since we gave up the cap. So from 2003 to 2010 our net pay only increased by 2%, or less than a third of one percent a year.
I never added in the value of benifits to our pay cuts, but we lost other coverage as well, LTD, which some carriers provide and STD, which many of our peers get (600 hrs IOD bank and 12 day/year sick bank).
The LTD is good for another $600/year paycut and I never bought STD so I have no idea what it is.
So we have $3395.52+ $600 + ??? to add to the concessions we have given over the years, and that does not include deductables, copays and limited coverage.
We really need to get that cap back! It could cost us $5000/year by the time 2014 rolls around.
My medical coverage cost me $599.76 in 2003.
On Jan 1 2004 the pilot cap was removed, we were told that everyone was losing it so it didnt matter, but the pilots got it back.
Based on 48 payments for 2010 I'll be paying $2928 , a nearly 500% increase!
What many do not realize is that this agreement continues to write a blank check to the company because of something else nobody told us back in 2003, that any overages in the costs from the Pilots, Flight Attendants and anyone else that has a cap gets added to the figure thats used to determine what we pay. Thats why our rates have increased by 500%.
Here's how I remember it being explained. Lets say the cost to the company to provide coverage to a group that has a cap goes up $100 million more than the cap allows them to pass on to that group, that $100 million gets ADDED to to the amount used to determine what we must pay. So the cost to the company of providing those caps gets passed onto us.
Dont blame the groups that were smart enough to keep their caps, the people who made that call are answerable to their membership. Our leaders generously agreed to do this and it doesnt even get couted as part of our contribution to bail out the company.($23 million a year just from M&R based on current headcount)
Another thing to consider is the company's use of part timers. Part timers save the company a lot of money, they lure them in by providing medical benifits. The more part timers the more the total cost for providing the benifit would go up. The savings from having part timers could be offset by the fact that having so many drives up the cost of providing medical benifits, BUT,,, the company has the ability to pass those costs onto all of us. They get the cost savings of part timers, we get the bill for what draws them in.
Not counting FSA my total for Health Care coverage went from $863.52/year in 2003 to $3395.52.A $2532/year increase or an equivilent additional paycut of $1.22/hr since 2003. So after we took a 25% paycut in 2003 we were supposed to get 5 annual 1.5% increases in pay, for a top paid mechanic that came out to $1.95, but our Insurance payments TO THE COMPANY ate up $1.22 of that increase, increase before inflation of .73/hr cents over the seven years since we gave up the cap. So from 2003 to 2010 our net pay only increased by 2%, or less than a third of one percent a year.
I never added in the value of benifits to our pay cuts, but we lost other coverage as well, LTD, which some carriers provide and STD, which many of our peers get (600 hrs IOD bank and 12 day/year sick bank).
The LTD is good for another $600/year paycut and I never bought STD so I have no idea what it is.
So we have $3395.52+ $600 + ??? to add to the concessions we have given over the years, and that does not include deductables, copays and limited coverage.
We really need to get that cap back! It could cost us $5000/year by the time 2014 rolls around.
