Numbers

We believe almost all of you are aware that the New York State Court of Appeals has denied the MTA motion to appeal of our third year wage raise (2011: 3 percent effective January 16, 2011). In addition to the non wage employee health contribution (effective August 15, 2009, the employees health contribution shall be reduced to 1.5 percent of wages, calculated based upon a maximum of 40 hours per week times the base hourly rate) what will that translate to.

If history is a predictor for the future especially when dealing with our employer regarding our earnings then our employer the MTA under Jay H Walder has stagnated - when the whole world has moved to a much faster pace with new technologies that become obsolete in less than a week. Especially the turnaround time concerning employee renumeration - is it due to unfair labor practice? We say yes.

Lets discuss the 3 percent increase effective January 16, 2011 which is based on hourly rates of pay rather than yearly (as some have thought) - now lets do simple math we will use round figures to make it easier.

Example 1 - if the hourly pay is $25x0.03 (3%)= 0.75 cents increase  

Example 2 - if the hourly pay is $30 x0.03 (3%)=0.90 cents increase

and so forth as you can note the range of raise may be between 75 > 90 cents in those examples.

Now lets review how many hours from January 16, 2011 till now. 

First lets get the date difference from Jan 16, 2011 to Apr 4, 2011 the total number of days between Sunday, January 16th, 2011 and Monday, April 4th, 2011 is 78 days. This is equal to exactly 2 months and 19 days. 

Now we have to convert the days to weeks 78*7=11.14 weeks. Lets also assume based on 40 hours a week - thus hours times weeks and the numbers will be as follows. 40x11.14=445.71 hours 

Now lets bring the examples of the increase figures above and multiply them to the hours - as you remember in example 1 we came with increase of cents 0.75x445.71=$334.28 

The second example we have increase of cents 0.90x445.71=$401.13 

As you can note the range of the increase may be between $334 > $401 based on those above examples.

Lets discuss health contribution which was reduced to 1.5 percent on August 15, 2009 - currently the contribution is based on 1.57 percent, so the difference is 0.07 percent. Even if it appears minuscule lets get the date difference from the total number of days between Saturday, August 15th, 2009 and Monday, April 4th, 2011 which is 597 days. This is equal to exactly 1 year, 7 months, and 20 days. 

Now it is easier since we have to convert days to weeks 597*7 = 85.28 Weeks. In this example we are going to use 40 hours and 50 hours based on hourly pay of $25 > $30 of the above examples. 

Example 1: For 40 hours - 25x40=$1000x1.57%=$15.70 deduction (25x40=$1000x1.5%=$15) the difference being is 70 cents - 0.70x85.28=$59.69  

Example 2: For 50 hours - 30x50=$1500x1.57%=$23.55 (now on this example we have to be careful due to the fact that there are two issues. First is the difference then the 10 hours above the capped contribution of 40 hours. The numbers will be as follows) 30x40=1200x1.5%=18 now we have to deduct 23.55-18=5.55 the difference is $5.55 - 5.55x85.28=$473.30 

As you can note the range of the health deduction based on 1.5 percent may be between $56 > $473 based on those above examples.

Taxes - this is a tough one - whether there will be social security and medicare deduction. The Social Security tax was 6.2 percent of your total pay until you reach an annual income threshold. However, in 2011 the rate was reduced to 4.2 percent as part of efforts to stimulate the economy. The income threshold for that year was $106,800, but it is adjusted yearly. The percentage rate for the Medicare tax is 1.45 percent. 

Then there is federal income tax - the percentage of federal income tax deducted from your paycheck rises as your taxable income increases. As of 2011, the first $40 per week was not taxed. Federal income tax was 10 percent of your weekly taxable income from $40 to $204. From $204 to $704 per week, the percentage was 15 percent. The percentage tax rises in each successive tax bracket until it reaches a maximum. In 2011, the maximum tax percentage was 35 percent for all taxable income in excess of $7,332 per week. Then there are state and city taxes which will be too much to go into detail.

Take home pay should look like this 

                                             low        high  

3 percent  increase                    $334        $401

1.5 health deduction refund           $56         $473

Gross total                                $390       $873

minus taxes - disclaimer to my fellow co workers those figures are for illustration only.