ARTICLE II ‑ COST‑OF‑LIVING ADJUSTMENT

Section 1 ‑ Amounts and Effective Dates of Cost‑of‑Living Adjustments

(a)   Cost‑of‑living adjustments will be determined from the "Consumer Price Index -United States city average for urban wage earners and clerical workers- All Items ‑ Unadjusted" (1967 ‑ 100) as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U. S. Department of Labor, and hereinafter referred to as the BLS Consumer Price Index. The first cost‑of-living adjustment shall be made effective January 1, 1976 based on the BLS Consumer Price Index for September 1975 as compared with such index for March 1975. Further cost‑of‑living adjustments shall be made effective the first day of each sixth month thereafter based on the BLS Consumer Price Indexes for the respective months shown in the following table, as provided in paragraphs (f) and (g):

                             BLS Consumer                 Effective Date of

                           Price Index for                         Adjustment

                             Sept. 1975                           Jan. 1, 1976

                              March 1976                         July 1, 1976

                              Sept. 1976                           Jan. 1, 1977

                               March 1977                         July 1, 1977

(b) While a cost‑of‑living allowance is in effect, such cost‑of‑living allowance will apply to straight time, overtime, vacations, and holidays, and to special allowances and arbitraries in the same manner as basic wage adjustments have been applied in the past.

(c) The amount of the cost‑of‑living allowance, if any, which will be effective from one adjustment date to the next may be equal to, or greater or less than, the cost‑of‑living allowance in effect in the preceding adjustment period.

(d) (i) Effective December 31, 1976, 75 percent of the cost‑of‑living allowance then payable will be incorporated into basic rates of pay for all purposes, and the cost‑of‑living allowance will be reduced by 75 percent.

(ii) Effective June 30, 1977, the remainder of the cost-of‑living allowance resulting from application of paragraph (d)(i), less the amount of any downward adjustment in the cost‑of‑living allowance effective January 1, 1977 by reason of a decline in the BLS Consumer Price Index, will be Incorporated Into basic rates of pay for all purposes, and the cost‑of‑living allowance will be reduced commensurately.

(iii) Effective December 31, 1977. 50 percent of the cost-of‑living allowance then payable will be incorporated into basic rates of pay for all purposes, and the cost‑of‑living allowance will be reduced by 50 percent.

(e) The cumulative amount of the cost‑of‑living allowance which may be in effect at any time shall not exceed the maximum amount shown in the following table:

                          Adjustment Date                      Maximum Cumulative Allowance

                           January 1, 1976                                12 cents per hour

                                 July 1, 1976                                 28 cents per hour

                           January 1, 1977                                 45 cents per hour, as adjusted by Note 1

                                    July1,1977                                 68cents per hour, as adjusted by Note 2.

Note I    Less 75 percent of the allowance which had been payable as of December 31, 1976 prior to application of paragraph (d)(i)

Note 2   Less the entire amount of the allowance payable as of December 31, 1976 which was incorporated into basic rates pursuant to paragraphs (d)(i) and (d)(ii).

(f) (ii) The cost‑of‑living allowance effective January 1, 1976, July 1, 1976, and January 1. 1977 will be one cent per hour for each full four‑tenths point by which the BLS Consumer Price Index for the respective month shown in the first column of paragraph (a) exceeds such index for March 1975, but will not be more than the maximum amount for the respective date shown in paragraph (e).

(ii) In determining the cost‑of‑living allowance effective January 1, 1977, there will be deducted from the amount determined under paragraph (f)(i) above 75 percent of the cost‑of‑living allowance which had been payable as of December 31, 1976 prior to application of paragraph (d)(i).

NOTE: As soon as the BLS Consumer Price Index for March 1975 becomes available, a table will be prepared showing the amount of the cost‑of‑living allowance, prior to the December 31, 1976 incor­poration into basic rates of 75 percent of the allowance then payable, for each BLS Consumer Price Index figure.

(g) The cost‑of‑living allowance effective July 1, 1977 will be the allowance effective January 1, 1977, increased by one cent per hour for each full three‑tenths point by which the BLS Consumer Price Index for March 1977 exceeds such Index for September 1976. If the BLS Consumer Price Index for March 1977 is less than such index for September 1976. the cost‑of‑living allowance effective July 1, 1977 will be the allowance effective January 1, 1977, reduced by one cent per hour for each full three‑tenths point by which the BLS Consumer Price Index for March 1977 is less than such index for September 1976. If the amount of the cost‑of‑living allowance which became effective January 1, 1977 was limited by operation of the 45‑cent maximum in paragraph (e) above, the increase or reduction will be applied to the amount of the cost‑of­ living allowance which would have become effective January 1. 1977 in the absence of such 45‑cent maximum. In any event the cost‑of‑living allowance effective July 1, 1977 will not be more than 68 cents per hour less the entire amount of the allowance payable as of December 31, 1976 which was incorporated into basic rates pursuant to paragraphs (d)(i) and (d)(ii).

NOTE: As soon as the BLS Consumer Price Index for September 1976 becomes available, a table will be prepared showing the amount of the cost‑of‑living allowance for each BLS Consumer Price Index figure

           . (h) Continuance of the cost‑of‑living adjustment is dependent upon the availability of the official monthly BI.S Consumer Price Index in its present form and calculated on the same basis as the Index for March 1975, except that, if the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U. S. Department Of Labor, should during the effective period of this Agreement revise or Change the methods or basic data used in calculating the BLS Consumer Price Index in such a way as to affect the direct comparability of such revised or changed index with the index for March 1975 or the index for September 1976, then that Bureau shall be requested to furnish a conversion factor designed to adjust the revised index to the basis of the index(es) for March 1975 and/or September 1976, described in paragraph (a) of this Section 1.

Section 2 ‑ Application of Cost‑of‑Living Adjustments

In application of the cost‑of‑living adjustments provided for by Section 1 of this Article II, the cost‑of‑living allowance will not become part of basic rates of pay except as provided in Section 1(d). Such allowance will be applied as follows:

(a) For others than dining car stewards and yardmasters, each one cent per hour of cost‑of‑living allowance will be treated as an increase of 8 cents In the basic daily rates of pay produced by application of Sections 2, 3 and 4 of Article 1 and by Section 1(d) of this Article Il. The cost‑of‑living allowance will otherwise be applied in keeping with the provisions of Section 5 of Article 1.

(b) For dining car stewards, each one cent per hour of cost-of‑living allowance will be treated as an increase of $1.80 in the monthly rates of pay produced by application of Section 6 of Article 1 and by Section 1(d) of this Article II.

(c) For yardmasters, each one cent per hour of cost‑of‑living allowance will be treated as an increase of $2.00 in the monthly rates of pay produced by application of Section 6 of Article 1 and by Section 1(d) of this Article II.