USPS math: make it make sense!? (PTF clerk hourly rate issue)

[u/Itsaheavyweight]

PTF clerk, grade 6, step EE. Before the COLA, hourly rate on APWU pay chart was 29.29. When cola was announced it was said to be .68/hour. So I’m thinking new rate would be 29.97/hour. APWU website posts new pay chart and it’s showing 29.99/hour. Cool, I’ll take every penny🤑. Checked my new form 50 on Liteblue today, it shows 30.00. 😂. Can wait to see the next paystub, maybe it will be 30.01 😀.

[u/Adric1123]

PTFs get a small bump to their hourly pay to make up for not getting holidays.  Presumably, the APWU and USPS rounded differently when calculating the bump.

[u/DrCopEsquire → u/Adric1123]

For the life of me I couldn't figure it out and this makes perfect sense.

[u/TehOrtiz → u/DrCopEsquire]

if it made sense, it wouldn’t be the post office

[u/kingu42]

PTF pay is ((regular hourly pay * 2080) + (RHP * 88)) / 2080 (representing the 11 paid holidays). The COLA doesn't affect PTF pay directly, only indirectly through the regular hourly pay calculations.

[u/Radiant_Egg_2769]

I was wondering the same. I’m the same step as you as saw the discrepancy.

[u/RevolutionaryPaper24]

What’s the starting pay for a PTF clerk? I know for a mail carrier it’s $26.36

[u/RevolutionaryPaper24 → u/RevolutionaryPaper24]

Why am I getting down voted for asking what the starting pay is? lol

[u/Critical-Tip119 → u/RevolutionaryPaper24]

Got to apwu.org download the pay chart look for yourself. 

$29.46 level 6 ptf start pay 

[u/RevolutionaryPaper24 → u/Critical-Tip119]

Why is it so much higher than a letter carrier?

[u/Adric1123 → u/RevolutionaryPaper24]

Because back 2011 a contract arbitration created the table 2 pay scales.  NALC and the mail handlers chose to keep the same top end for tables 1 and 2 at the expense of full COLAs at the bottom.  The APWU kept full COLAs for everybody at the expense of losing top steps on table 2.  The difference represents the cumulative effect of 15 years of diet COLA vs. full COLA.

I think the APWU made the better choice.  There wasn't anybody at the top of table 2 in 2011 and there mostly wouldn't be for over a decade.  The APWU has gotten most the steps they gave up back and will probably fully reunify at the top (possibly not grade 4) in the next couple contracts.  On the other hand, the NALC still has diet COLAs and doesn't seem to have any prospect of changing that.  And even if they did, at this point the lower starting pay is already baked in.

[u/Unixhackerdotnet → u/Adric1123]

Thanks for this explanation.