NTEU Endorses Legislation to Standardize Retiree COLAs

NTEU is endorsing legislation in the House and Senate to give retirees in the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) and the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) the same cost of living adjustment each year.

Under current rules, the CSRS annual annuity increase is equal to the annual change in the third quarter consumer price index for workers (CPI-W), but the calculation for FERS annuitants may be different. If CSRS retirees receive an increase of under 2 percent, FERS retirees receive the full COLA. If the adjustment is between 2 and 3 percent, FERS enrollees only receive a 2 percent increase. And if, like this year, the CSRS COLA is 3 percent or more, FERS retirees receive 1 percentage point less than CSRS retirees.

In January, CSRS retirees received a 5.9 percent increase while those under FERS saw their monthly pensions adjusted by 4.9 percent. The Equal COLA Act, would tie both systems’ annual increase directly to the CPI-W. Learn more