• Member Taken Hostage
• RAA Cohen Retires
• 11th Annual NALC Food Drive
• COLA

Long-time Region 15 (New York Metro) Regional Administrative Assistant Jules Cohen retired January 31 after a distinguished career of assisting letter carriers throughout the New York area.

NALC President William H. Young appointed Lawrence D. Cirelli of New Jersey Merged Branch 38 to fill the RAA vacancy in the office of National Business Agent George Mignosi.

Cohen, 56, had served in the NBA's office since 1979 when he started as a part-time RAA, and later moving up to full-time status, a position he has held for the past 15 years. He had been active in the NALC since 1971, starting out as a shop steward and then president of Union (NJ) Br. 2951 for seven year before becoming a vice president of Merged Branch 38.

"All letter carriers in the New York Metro Region and countless others throughout the nation have benefitted from the wisdom and energy that Jules Cohen gave to this union on their behalf for more than a quarter century," said Young. "We wish him a long and relaxing retirement in the years ahead."

Cirelli, 47, has been a full-time Dispute Resolution Team member since 1998 after serving as an Employee Involvement facilitator. He had been a steward for Branch 38 in Lodi, New Jersey where he carried mail since joining the Postal Service in 1985.

Registration forms for branches that are participating in the 11th annual NALC National Food Drive are due at NALC headquarters by February 7 in order that coordinator's packets can be sent to those branches. The packets will include a form for ordering FREE Campbell Soup/Postal Service postcards for delivery to postal customers.

The yellow registration forms for the 2003 "Stamp Out Hunger" drive were included with a letter from NALC President William H. Young sent to all branch presidents in early January.

Branches that participated last year must renew their registration for the 2003 drive to receive the postcard order form.

Questions regarding the registration should be directed to Drew Von Bergen, national coordinator of the food drive, at (202) 662-2489, by email at vonbergen@nalc.org or by mail at NALC headquarters.

The projected accumulation for the first of eight regular cost-of-living adjustments under the 2001-2006 National Agreement declined to $140.40 following release January 16 of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for December.

Due to a decline in the CPI-W in December, the projected COLA was down from the $202.80 accumulation cited after November data was released a month ago (NALC Bulletin 02-30).

The first COLA will be based on inflation between July 2002 and January 2003 and will be payable in the second full pay period following release in February of the January CPI-W. The $140.40 annual increase translates into 6 3/4 cents per hour or $5.40 per pay period.

The projected accumulation toward the 2004 retiree COLA declined to 0.2 percent following release of the December CPI-W.

The 2003 COLA for Federal Employees Compensation Act (FECA) participants will be 2.4 percent. The 2003 FECA COLA is based on the increase in the CPI-W between December 2001 and December 2002. It will become effective on March 1, 2003. FECA COLAs are applicable only in cases where death or disability occurred more than one year prior to the adjustment's effective date.