ABF | ABF announces contract negotiations

Amen, von. They know we’re pissed. There may never be a better time.
There won't be. If the rank & file cave on this new contract, it will make it easier for Judy & Company to **** ABF Freight of it's profits. That allows the legal bankruptcy process to begin. And the Bankruptcy Judge will rule the Pension Fund payments are a debit that will be discharged. ABF might have to pay some kind of fee to exit Central States, but it is one they can afford & welcome. Like people say, 'stand & fight, or bend over & take it'. von.
 
He was sore about the FedEx union debate thread. Just wanted to start crap is what I think.
Unfortunately it is easy to understand why they wouldn't want to go with the teamsters. Hoffa and his toadies should step aside and let a union that works for their members take over FedEx and Conway drives.
 
Another Troll! Go play on your FedEx thread and brag about how tough you are keyboard cowboy. Then you can pat yourself on the back for being a company man and taking what they give you. Thanks scab! Go back to being a slave! Lmao!!

guess I hit a nerve??? I'm not a slave to a union....
 
Then you've done reasonably well,....probably better than most of your fellow co-workers. But,.....what happens at the next economic downturn? I started a 401(k) in 1995 to back up the defined-benefit plan I was in,....and I saw at least 4 times when I lost half the value of my "investments",.......including the downturn of 2001, where it was almost 2/3rds of what I supposedly had in my account.

At that point,....they were actually dipping into the cash share that I had contributed. And,...I reacted by removing all my "shares" into a safer money market fund......The electronic equivalent of stuffing my money in a mattress......I could NOT escape the 401(k) agreement...(..unless I quit or got fired..)

Until age 59-and-a-half,.........that "money" does NOT have your "name on it". You've entered into an investment agreement with Fidelity, exchanging your control over investments for tax deferrment. As you see above,...in the event of an earth-shaking catastrophe in Wall Street,...you can actually lose some...(or most, if not all)...of the cash that you've got coming out of your paycheck due to the investment agreement.

I'm sure you've read all the paperwork,.....and you are aware of all the disclaimers making no guarantees. I don't think people in a physical-work setting,......where you're burning up your abilities to do your job simply by getting older,........should have to solely trust the vagaries of the stock market for their futures.

$500,000 at a 3.5% annuity will give you $17,500 a year, divided into 12 checks, is $1458 a month.........before taxes . Yes, you pay taxes when you retire. Not as much, but that's what "tax-deferred" means.

You've got a little ways to go, Brother, and I honestly wish you the best of luck in doubling your investments in the next 10 or so years.

Your numbers arte way off, sound like you either make bad investments or do not know about quality investing..

You are better off with a pension.
It takes different products for different people...

I'll stick with my conventional 401k and my Roth IRA. long after any pension $$$ is gone I'll have plenty in my blended funds....

good luck...
 
Your numbers arte way off, sound like you either make bad investments or do not know about quality investing..

You are better off with a pension.
It takes different products for different people...

I'll stick with my conventional 401k and my Roth IRA. long after any pension $$$ is gone I'll have plenty in my blended funds....

good luck...
Meh, if you were all that great your money wouldn't be in funds it would be directly in stocks.
 
Your numbers arte way off, sound like you either make bad investments or do not know about quality investing..

You are better off with a pension.
It takes different products for different people...

I'll stick with my conventional 401k and my Roth IRA. long after any pension $$$ is gone I'll have plenty in my blended funds....

good luck...

And I'll wish you good luck, too......I really don't want to see anyone get cheated out of their retirement,.....whatever the vehicle they choose. It's not a....."competition"...at that point.

But,....you may do yourself a favor by checking the annuity rate with a stock broker, or someone you trust. Ask them why the rate recently got lowered to 3.5% from 5%.

Ask exactly how you "retire" with a 401(k)- style investment. You'll be converting that Roth IRA, too,.....albeit with the taxes already paid.......I don't think employers and investment firms are exactly.....transparent,......on how you provide funds for your retirement on a 401(k). I talk to many people who don't understand the mechanics,......mainly because they've never been told how they work.
 
So according to you I get screwed by the company. Yet you get screwed by both the company and the union. You're better off how?


If your perception is that your employer is ..."screwing"...you,....that would be your opinion....

If your opinion is that both the Union and our employer is doing the same to us,......I think you'd have to prove you have better empirical evidence than those of us who are actually working under a collective bargaining agreement have.

Kind of hard to do if you have no experience with a Union or an employer under a collective bargaining agreement.

Collective bargaining is protected under the First Amendment,...as codified by the National Labor relations Act of 1938. That's why it's not illegal to be in a Union in this country. We're supporting the First Amendment.

We, at least,.....get to discuss and propose work rules, pay, and health care. We can accept,...continue bargaining,...or go on strike,...and continue to bargain while on strike. In the event of an impasse,..potentially, a Federal mediator may step in. Union provides strike benefits while negotiations continue.

All this probably sounds very complicated,...and there are very many political issues within our Union to take into account,.....but to summarize:......Our future is truly in our hands.

You,...on the other hand,....working for a non-Union employer,.......can only take what they offer,...or quit,......

If they change your health care,....or pay,...or seniority,.....or anything,...even on a daily basis,....you have only two options.:...Accept, or quit.

Any..."screwing"....being done to us,....comes out of our taking responsibility for said "screwing",...and only by our voted acceptance.
 
Meh, if you were all that great your money wouldn't be in funds it would be directly in stocks.
That is why funds exist, I let the pro's handle the trading. I have a business to run...
My investments recovered from the crash (buying opportunity) and have grown substantially as should all investment have done.....
if you think your pensions are not invested, someone is lying to you...
I wish you the best...
 
That is why funds exist, I let the pro's handle the trading. I have a business to run...
My investments recovered from the crash (buying opportunity) and have grown substantially as should all investment have done.....
if you think your pensions are not invested, someone is lying to you...
I wish you the best...

Of course our funds are invested. Some of the rules for investment of Multi-Employer funds have been altered by Congress ,....with influence from Wall Street,....which is why our funds haven't recovered as fast as the profits are rising in the stock market.

As a member of a Multi-Employer plan,...I was able to file a Form 5500 once a year,....which is the income tax filing for that fund. Explains all the expenses,...salaries, office supplies,...bonuses,....how much for paper clips,.....and, more importantly,.....who, and how much they invest , with. Required by Federal Law if you're in a defined-benefit pension.

Keeps them honest,...if you can understand the paperwork they're required to send you. This is not the "summary", by the way. It's the comprehensive filing, with all notes and attachments.

Look up "Form 5500",.....Interesting,....that we have that much individual oversight.....Most people have no clue........

The "pro's" you're talking about...........are they working for you?....Or, the profitability of the fund your money is clustered in with? Big difference,....especially when Wall Street creates one of their infamous..."market adjustments"......

Just hope they don't do that 2 years before you choose to retire.
 
Of course our funds are invested. Some of the rules for investment of Multi-Employer funds have been altered by Congress ,....with influence from Wall Street,....which is why our funds haven't recovered as fast as the profits are rising in the stock market.

As a member of a Multi-Employer plan,...I was able to file a Form 5500 once a year,....which is the income tax filing for that fund. Explains all the expenses,...salaries, office supplies,...bonuses,....how much for paper clips,.....and, more importantly,.....who, and how much they invest , with. Required by Federal Law if you're in a defined-benefit pension.

Keeps them honest,...if you can understand the paperwork they're required to send you. This is not the "summary", by the way. It's the comprehensive filing, with all notes and attachments.

Look up "Form 5500",.....Interesting,....that we have that much individual oversight.....Most people have no clue........

The "pro's" you're talking about...........are they working for you?....Or, the profitability of the fund your money is clustered in with? Big difference,....especially when Wall Street creates one of their infamous..."market adjustments"......

Just hope they don't do that 2 years before you choose to retire.
Good points, canary...and all true. 401k’s are ‘meh’ in my opinion...good and bad points to them. I was at a company about 20 years ago that had started a Union decertification drive...had their hot-shot ‘investment guru’ come in to give us the schpeel on how 401k’s were “superior to defined plans” (his words) because it gave each of us “more control over your money” (again, his words). Then, he proceeds to give everyone some printed material on ‘future’ returns. Reading down the sheets, I discovered this fine gentleman’s predictions were based on a 10% return for EACH year up until we retired. Heck, some of us had 20 years to go still!! We all laughed so hard we deficated ourselves. Not long after that, 9-11 happened, and we all know what happened to the market then...not to mention The Great Depression 2, in 2007. Results of the decertification vote: 102-2 against decertification. Ahhh...the good ol’ days.
 
I started in a company-sponsored 401(k) in 1995,.......and, going with the "suggested" investment strategy for my age,.....I went through 3 market "adjustments",........including the one in 2001, where I actually lost part of what I figured was the cash side I had....."donated/invested"...... to Wall Street.

Sitting down with a pencil and calculator,....I determined I would have made just about the same amount of money if I would've invested in a Serta Posture-Pedic,....and hid the money inside of it..........

I believe Local# 776 in Harrisburg, Pa. converted their defined-benefit pension fund to a defined-contribution fund about roughly the same time,.....after some "hot-shots" similar to what you experienced, convinced the rank-and-file there that 8% returns yearly were feasible, and that they would all be ...."millionaires".....after 20 years of ..."investing".....

They got exactly one year of 8% returns,.....then it dropped to 5%,...3%,....1%,......and then a "market adjustment".......

After about 12 years of .....losses......Local # 776 converted their fund back to defined-benefit.

Anyone out there from Local # 776 can enlighten us exactly on the figures and dates? I think I'm pretty close without having to go through my files.
 
I started in a company-sponsored 401(k) in 1995,.......and, going with the "suggested" investment strategy for my age,.....I went through 3 market "adjustments",........including the one in 2001, where I actually lost part of what I figured was the cash side I had....."donated/invested"...... to Wall Street.

Sitting down with a pencil and calculator,....I determined I would have made just about the same amount of money if I would've invested in a Serta Posture-Pedic,....and hid the money inside of it..........

I believe Local# 776 in Harrisburg, Pa. converted their defined-benefit pension fund to a defined-contribution fund about roughly the same time,.....after some "hot-shots" similar to what you experienced, convinced the rank-and-file there that 8% returns yearly were feasible, and that they would all be ...."millionaires".....after 20 years of ..."investing".....

They got exactly one year of 8% returns,.....then it dropped to 5%,...3%,....1%,......and then a "market adjustment".......

After about 12 years of .....losses......Local # 776 converted their fund back to defined-benefit.

Anyone out there from Local # 776 can enlighten us exactly on the figures and dates? I think I'm pretty close without having to go through my files.
Actually...I think you got some right and some wrong. Yes they did have defined contribution for a while and sometime around the late '90s went back to defined benefit. But the story the guys have told me is that they were better off with the defined contribution plan. But remember, it was not a meager 4% of their pay either, like many of the 401K's are.
 
If your perception is that your employer is ..."screwing"...you,....that would be your opinion....

If your opinion is that both the Union and our employer is doing the same to us,......I think you'd have to prove you have better empirical evidence than those of us who are actually working under a collective bargaining agreement have.

Kind of hard to do if you have no experience with a Union or an employer under a collective bargaining agreement.

Collective bargaining is protected under the First Amendment,...as codified by the National Labor relations Act of 1938. That's why it's not illegal to be in a Union in this country. We're supporting the First Amendment.

We, at least,.....get to discuss and propose work rules, pay, and health care. We can accept,...continue bargaining,...or go on strike,...and continue to bargain while on strike. In the event of an impasse,..potentially, a Federal mediator may step in. Union provides strike benefits while negotiations continue.

All this probably sounds very complicated,...and there are very many political issues within our Union to take into account,.....but to summarize:......Our future is truly in our hands.

You,...on the other hand,....working for a non-Union employer,.......can only take what they offer,...or quit,......

If they change your health care,....or pay,...or seniority,.....or anything,...even on a daily basis,....you have only two options.:...Accept, or quit.

Any..."screwing"....being done to us,....comes out of our taking responsibility for said "screwing",...and only by our voted acceptance.

I never said my employer was screwing me. Evidently your reading comprehension skills are jaded by your pro union bias. That being said, perhaps you need to realize that my "empirical evidence" about the fact you're being screwed by both your union and your employer consists of the threads on the ABF and YRC boards. If you as teamster's want to organize the non-union companies, start by fixing the union itself and your pension, which is sadly the last selling point to potential membership, and a pathetically weak one at that.

So how do you fix the union? Start by firing lazy workers. Productivity and profitability are not four letter words. They are in fact the lifeblood of a company from which your wages and benefits are paid.

Next, eliminate the corruption and graft that are rampant in the union so called leadership.

Lastly, restore union power by getting every member involved. Union meetings should be attended by one and all. Oops, next I'll be asking for voter turnout to become more than 10%.

That's crazy talk!
 
Top