ABF | Tax Cuts /Contract Negotiations

The passing of the Tax Reform which will cut ABF's tax to rate from 35% to 21% starting next year. Remember this during your negotiations. These tax breaks were designed we have been told for companies to pass the savings onto the labor force & raise salaries. Zero concessions. Stand Strong
I’m trying to remain positive, but this trickle-down crap has been tried before and failed. For the most part, greedy people infest the upper-management positions of these large companies, and cannot possibly fathom passing that extra windfall down to the workers.
 
I’m trying to remain positive, but this trickle-down crap has been tried before and failed. For the most part, greedy people infest the upper-management positions of these large companies, and cannot possibly fathom passing that extra windfall down to the workers.
I don't disagree but we have to fight them to do so. They are receiving basically a 15% concession savings compared to previous years. We need to hold our ground & continue to remind them & our negotiators we will not buy into their "whoa is me" pleas.
 
I’m trying to remain positive, but this trickle-down crap has been tried before and failed. For the most part, greedy people infest the upper-management positions of these large companies, and cannot possibly fathom passing that extra windfall down to the workers.


The "donor" class has said this will go to...."re-investment".......whatever that nebulous term means. Hold 'em to it!
 
Don't forget that trickle-down was originally called horse and sparrow economics in the 1890s. That term is a little closer to what actually occurs.

All the extra food goes through the horse, which in this case is ABF. Then it passes through the body, comes out as fecal matter, and we sparrows peck away at what the horse didn't digest.

But doesn't trickle down sound so much nicer?
 
Don't forget that trickle-down was originally called horse and sparrow economics in the 1890s. That term is a little closer to what actually occurs.

All the extra food goes through the horse, which in this case is ABF. Then it passes through the body, comes out as fecal matter, and we sparrows peck away at what the horse didn't digest.

But doesn't trickle down sound so much nicer?


"Trickle-down" sounds like .....runny diarrhea. So, we're back to the fecal matter........

Honestly, though............For ArcBest, this corporate tax cut comes at the absolute wrong time. They've been handed a permanent 14% windfall,.....and , since they signed on with the "Best for America" corporate drivel,......they've got to put their money where their mouth is.

It would be extremely hard for them to plead poverty now,...........And,...to not "invest" in their workforce would almost be apostasy.........

The only strategy they have,.....is to drag out contract talks until the average citizen/worker..."forgets"....all the promises about corporations investing in their people with bigger paychecks and more hiring...

And,........given the ease in which most people believe just about anything they hear,...and the collective short attention span due to a lack of cognitive reasoning, because most people,........don't read......
I'd give it just about three months,......and then ArcBest can go back to crying poverty without anyone raising an eyebrow.....

Now,....the Big Question is,..........How is our Illustrious Leadership going to factor in the permanent corporate tax cuts, along with the increasingly stark lack of qualified drivers,....plus the almost full employment level of the available labor pool?

Significantly raise wages? Offer Job Protection for Union drivers potentially affected by computer-driven OTR trucks? Offer to pay....(..Finally!..)....the full cost of maintaining a HAZ-MAT endorsement? RESTORING THE VACATION SCHEDULE? Vastly increasing protection for Union Defined-Benefit pensions?

We Await with Bated Breath the Wisdom and Guidance from the Marble Palace...........The two Court Jesters to the Freight industry .....Fric(Johnson)...and Frac(Sweeton)....are gone.........Let's hope Mr. Hoffa isn't looking for another one to fill the "clown" position.......
 
"Trickle-down" sounds like .....runny diarrhea. So, we're back to the fecal matter........

Honestly, though............For ArcBest, this corporate tax cut comes at the absolute wrong time. They've been handed a permanent 14% windfall,.....and , since they signed on with the "Best for America" corporate drivel,......they've got to put their money where their mouth is.

It would be extremely hard for them to plead poverty now,...........And,...to not "invest" in their workforce would almost be apostasy.........

The only strategy they have,.....is to drag out contract talks until the average citizen/worker..."forgets"....all the promises about corporations investing in their people with bigger paychecks and more hiring...

And,........given the ease in which most people believe just about anything they hear,...and the collective short attention span due to a lack of cognitive reasoning, because most people,........don't read......
I'd give it just about three months,......and then ArcBest can go back to crying poverty without anyone raising an eyebrow.....

Now,....the Big Question is,..........How is our Illustrious Leadership going to factor in the permanent corporate tax cuts, along with the increasingly stark lack of qualified drivers,....plus the almost full employment level of the available labor pool?

Significantly raise wages? Offer Job Protection for Union drivers potentially affected by computer-driven OTR trucks? Offer to pay....(..Finally!..)....the full cost of maintaining a HAZ-MAT endorsement? RESTORING THE VACATION SCHEDULE? Vastly increasing protection for Union Defined-Benefit pensions?

We Await with Bated Breath the Wisdom and Guidance from the Marble Palace...........The two Court Jesters to the Freight industry .....Fric(Johnson)...and Frac(Sweeton)....are gone.........Let's hope Mr. Hoffa isn't looking for another one to fill the "clown" position.......
Let us pray.
 
I agree with Canary that this tax windfall comes at exactly the wrong time for ARCB. The Teamsters are still hurting from their last sexual encounter with ABF during the last negotiations. And to have this one go the same way would be disastrous for them. I also think ABF knows they owe us from the last time and this will affect their mindset during negotiation. We will be fine. And if not, it might be time to join Canary and spend more time enjoying life and less time putting up with ABF!!!
 
I agree with Canary that this tax windfall comes at exactly the wrong time for ARCB. The Teamsters are still hurting from their last sexual encounter with ABF during the last negotiations. And to have this one go the same way would be disastrous for them. I also think ABF knows they owe us from the last time and this will affect their mindset during negotiation. We will be fine. And if not, it might be time to join Canary and spend more time enjoying life and less time putting up with ABF!!!
While I think the odds are in your favor, don't treat it like a slam dunk just yet.
 
I agree with Canary that this tax windfall comes at exactly the wrong time for ARCB. The Teamsters are still hurting from their last sexual encounter with ABF during the last negotiations. And to have this one go the same way would be disastrous for them. I also think ABF knows they owe us from the last time and this will affect their mindset during negotiation. We will be fine. And if not, it might be time to join Canary and spend more time enjoying life and less time putting up with ABF!!!
With Ernie and Hoffa stumping for the company it will still be a battle for us.
 
Be nice to have a few elected officials on our side, for a change....
That’s a good one. Do you ever think a politician will go out of his way to help us when the Teamster members don’t even have the initiative to vote for their own union leadership ? I believe the average turnout for each local was around 12%. And I’m being generous. They see this and know that the average member will not leave their house to cas a ballot when they can’t even fill out a ballot and place it in a self addressed stamped envelope.
 
That’s a good one. Do you ever think a politician will go out of his way to help us when the Teamster members don’t even have the initiative to vote for their own union leadership ? I believe the average turnout for each local was around 12%. And I’m being generous. They see this and know that the average member will not leave their house to cas a ballot when they can’t even fill out a ballot and place it in a self addressed stamped envelope.[/QUOTE
FYI http://www.teamstersunited.org/vote_count
 
That’s a good one. Do you ever think a politician will go out of his way to help us when the Teamster members don’t even have the initiative to vote for their own union leadership ? I believe the average turnout for each local was around 12%. And I’m being generous. They see this and know that the average member will not leave their house to cas a ballot when they can’t even fill out a ballot and place it in a self addressed stamped envelope.
Well freight guys vote. 80% turnout for 2014 ABF contract. Not the best turnout but better than the national numbers.

https://www.expressweek.com/archive/five-year-deal-reached-abf-teamsters-members

ABF master contract was ratified by a vote of 3,210 yes to 2,965 no, with most of the big terminals, including Atlanta, Chicago, and Dayton rejecting the contract heavily. TDU said 7,753 ballots were mailed out, making this voter turnout about 80 percent of ABF Teamsters.
 
What are they afraid of? Truck drivers,....as a class,....are pretty much the most opinionated group of people out there. Just ask anyone who owns a CB radio......

So, why won't 20% of ABF employees not even bother to vote ,.....or give their opinion,.....on a life-changing event such as a contract ?

The ballot is mailed to your house,...for crying out loud!....Not like you've got to make a special trip or something.

You could place the ballot on the floor,.....smear black Rustoleum on your nose,......fall face first on the ballot, .....and mail it.....It would be valid.....

You could do it in the nude,........(....please close the drapes...).......

What is wrong with 20% of ABF employees? Scared that their wife might see them making a....decision,....on their own? Do they wait until the incoming mail pile gets so high they use a rake to get it to the burn pile,....and lose the ballot? Hate the Union so badly that they're willing to give up First Amendment Constitutional rights and ignore the ballot?

My personal ...unbiased....opinion of ABF employees is that they're a "cut above" most other truck drivers and dock workers,.........and that most (99%) of them are hard-working and ambitious,......which does not explain why 1/5th of our fellow employees,........don't bother to vote on the contract.

Afraid that their dispatcher might find out how they voted?
 
As I see it contract negotiations are going to be sticky for the IBT, they will have a tough time figuring out out to stick it to us since our negotiations come before YRC's this time around. I'm sure they would prefer to cower and submit to YRC's demands then come lower us to their new standard explaining how the company needs the help. Now what will they do, offer to give ABF a 'me too' on anything YRC gives up?
 
As I see it contract negotiations are going to be sticky for the IBT, they will have a tough time figuring out out to stick it to us since our negotiations come before YRC's this time around. I'm sure they would prefer to cower and submit to YRC's demands then come lower us to their new standard explaining how the company needs the help. Now what will they do, offer to give ABF a 'me too' on anything YRC gives up?
That will be part of the 2019 emergency negotiations.
 
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