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Part $1$

$$Two$-$tier wage structures can save companies money by paying some$$ workers, usually, those with lower$$ seniority$,$ less money than workers who possess higher seniority$.$

$$Two$-$Tier Wage Structures

Assembler

Lower Tier$($$$)$

Upper Tier$($$$)$

December $2015$

Base Ratelong dash$$Contract End$($Previous Base$$ Pay$)$

$45$

$62$

January $2016$

COLA$$ Fold$-$In

$2\mathrm{.}40$

$2\mathrm{.}40$

New Agreement Base

$47\mathrm{.}40$

$64\mathrm{.}40$

Beginning COLA Float

$1\mathrm{.}60$

$1\mathrm{.}60$

Base Rate Plus COLA$($Current Base$$ Pay$)$

$49\mathrm{.}00$

$66\mathrm{.}00$

Note$$: $1,800$ employees and annual work hours per employee equals $20802080.$

Part $2$

$$a$)$ The base hourly pay rate increased by $8\mathrm{.}89\%$ for the lower tier.

$$b$)$ The base hourly pay rate increased by $6\mathrm{.}45\%$ for the upper tier.

Part $3$

If $60$ percent of the workers earn the lower tier wage$$ rate, the total hourly pay expense for all employees in $2016$ will be $$$enter your response here.