You better find something to bitch about or you will never fit in around here! :D
Holland | Plenty of money
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You are exactly right. Like a sheep being let to slaughter, when I was 27, in 1972, I eagerly joined the union, (Local 638) Mpls, first working furniture delivery on a 2 man truck for a small furniture store. Later, I was happy when All American Transport called me to come to work. 30 days later, I was on the list, with full benefits and full pay and a member of Local 120. None of the part-time, casual, 10%er, !5% give-back crap that people looking for a good job have to deal with nowadays. It was work 29 days, then either you were in or out on day #30, full pay, full benefits. We all stuck together. Being the low man on the totum pole, I really appreciated the senior guys making sure that I didn't get screwed either by the company or some A-hole with his nose up the TM's ass. If even one guy was on lay-off,......nobody signed up for OT. Back then they could only force OT on the last outbound crew (the clean-up crew) before the doors came down on all the outbound loads and the terminal shut down for the night, usually around midnite. I was young and dumb then, believing the Teamsters were a good thing to be believed when they promised "a secure pension and a comfortable income for you and your wife when you retire after 30 or so years. Nobody can take it away from you. The ERISA Law guarantees that." I believed it.
After 34.5 years of paying into the CSPF and never being laid off, always working for union companies,even after American folded in '88. Every Teamster company I ever worked for paid in their full share to CSPF. No "orphan companies", I retired in the fall of 2007.In my last few working years (and even after retirement) I got letters in the mail every year from (and signed by) Thomas Nyhan still saying my pension was secure because I retired before April 2008. The last letter I got with those lies was April 2014. One year later, I'm notified by the same POS that my pension would be cut by 50% in spite of the fact that every company I ever worked for contributed 100%. When I retired, I agreed that 15% of every monthly check ($510.00) be deducted for my wife of 52 years, to have a lifetime pension of $1450. should I die before her. Sounds great, right? As you know, that all changed in 2015. Promises broken. Billions of $$$ gone. Promised pensions to be cut by up to 70%. They even notified me that my wife's survivor benefits will be cut after my death.....Yet Hoffa, Hall, Nyhan and all their cronies will never lose a dime. Nyhan even gave himself a $32,000.00 raise in 2014 to $694,000.00 annually (plus generous percs) for doing such an excellent job of losing Billions of $$$$. ($2 billion in 2002 and another $10 billion in 2008). Excellent job! A poorly trained chimp could have done a better job and would have worked for bananas. Now Nyhan says that the Fund will most likely be bankrupt before 2026........AND HE STILL HAS HIS JOB! What is wrong with this picture? Nyhan, Hoffa and John Murphy were all on the board of NCCMP during 2014 planning the CSPF pension cuts EVEN BEFORE the Senate Democrats and Obama repealed ERISA in Dec 2014. How did they know? Was it because they already KNEW what the results of that $6.5 million of members' money that Lichtenwald used to bribe un-named Congressmen and Senators during 2014 would be? ERISA was abolished in Dec 2014 by Senate vote then signed into law by Obama the next day, opening the door for the cuts announced only 3 months later. The whole thing stinks. We, the members, have been played for suckers, supporting Hoffa, the Teamster leadership (right down to most, but not all, Locals), the CSPF, Nyhan and all the hundreds of cronies sucking the Pension Fund dry. You are 100% correct, Wrongway. I has been and still is a giant ponzi scheme, but the majority of the members still don't see it. Nobody goes to jail. Nobody is held accountable. Instead, they are either re-elected, re-appointed, given big raises in pay or simply go away with full multiple pensions and full benefits to live of life of luxury in "retirement". Now Hoffa gets 5 more years to fleece us even more........unbelievable !
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It's called **** poor management and morale along with no more "brotherhood". Like I said in a previous post......there should be a "clean up crew" that has to stay untill dock is clear. If there is too much OT on "clean up" for management to stomach......they need to put more people on "clean up", but the dock should be cleared before closing. Some managers don't know how to manage. The fish rots from the top down.
Probably not now since YRC and most other Teamster freight companies can't find anybody that is willing to play the part-time, casual, low starting pay (if they ever DO get on the list), then seemingly taking forever to reach full scale, game. Then being told there probably won't be a pension anymore by 2025. Who in their right mind would WANT to hire on at YRC or any other union freight company and deal with that? THAT'S WHY there are no lay offs and lots of OT for those that have no other choice but to keep working there. The pay and OT is good now, but the future is bleak. Sorry to rain on your parade.
Enjoy it while it lasts. Way over 600 major union trucking companies that provided good pay and benefits in the '70's & '80's are no longer in business due to gov't regs and **** poor management (e.g. too much OT paid - low productivity - low morale - high injury rate (real or fake) due to fatigue - excessive damage to equipment and/or freight due to previous 2 reasons. All this leads to a low profit ratio along with skyrocketing health costs (thanks to Obama) - end result is a sign on the gate such as Lakevile Motor Express (LME) based in Mpls/St Paul, did last month just before Thanksgiving with no prior notice. On 11/19/16 they just posted a sign on the locked gate saying the company is permanently closed. No checks have been issued for work owed. They just closed and changed the logos on the trucks to (FLE) Finish Line Express and now are operating non-union.
In the meantime, Tom Erikson, President of Teamster Local 120 says "I don't know if that's legal" Another great union leader appointed by James Hoffa, no less.
It happens over and over just like that. One day you have a job. The next day you don't.......not even the back pay they owe you.
Enjoy it while it lasts. The Teamsters have no teeth anymore and Hoffa don't give a damn.....he's got his big paycheck for another 5 years.
Rain on my Parade?? I've been at Holland over 15 years. I know whats going on. Its by no means a parade, just a 3 ring circus with the monkeys throwing :
: at each other.You say "I know what's going on" I sincerely doubt that. You are like a mushroom - kept in the dark and fed :Rain on my Parade?? I've been at Holland over 15 years. I know whats going on. Its by no means a parade, just a 3 ring circus with the monkeys throwing ::
: every day. For all the good guys still at Holland.....I hope I'm wrong......But someday, without notice, they will just shut the doors. It happened to me twice in my 34+ years at Teamster freight companies. It took over 3 years to get all the money owed me at one company and the other never did pay all they owed me.Now, unfortunately, the same thing has happened to a lot of good people at LME Lakeville Motor Express (home base St Paul, MN). They just locked the gate on 11/19/16, did not pay any wages owed, changed the logo on their equipment to FLE Finish Line Express and started operating as a new non-union company with new employees. Now Tom Erickson, Local 120 President was quoted as saying he didn't know if what Lakeville owners did was legal or not ????? Hope he figures it out pretty soon.
Ok pal. you're right, I'm a mushroom. I dont have a clue. Carry on Mr All-knowing.You say "I know what's going on" I sincerely doubt that. You are like a mushroom - kept in the dark and fed ::
Now, unfortunately, the same thing has happened to a lot of good people at LME Lakeville Motor Express (home base St Paul, MN). They just locked the gate on 11/19/16, did not pay any wages owed, changed the logo on their equipment to FLE Finish Line Express and started operating as a new non-union company with new employees. Now Tom Erickson, Local 120 President was quoted as saying he didn't know if what Lakeville owners did was legal or not ????? Hope he figures it out pretty soon.
I'm not "all knowing". I've just been around the block a few times. On a couple of those laps, I've been crapped on by the people I believed in and trusted, namely the Teamsters, my Local, my BA and on occasion, my steward (the last two had their noses so far up both the boss's and the Local president's behind that i'm surprised either one could breathe. There has been some good ones in all categories, but the bad ones you don't forget. If you believe all is good and nobody has lied to you.....I hope you are right. If so, you are in the extreme minority. Good Luck.
I have never said all is good and nobody has lied. That is an assumption on your part. As is the insinuation that I have never been thru a Teamster company shutting down.
I will reply to YOUR reply. First ; You assume I am your "pal". I am not. I don't even know you, nor you me, but for some reason, you seem hostile (refer to post #29). YOU are the one who said, " I know what's going on". ( post # 26) I never "assumed" anything. I said "if" because of your hostility toward my comment about us all being lied to for nearly 40 years about a "secure pension" and kept in the dark by our union leaders. If you have a different opinion, let's hear it. As for any "insinuation".....how can I insinuate anything? I don't know you or anything about your union history or past company history except what you claim (15 yrs at Holland). I hope you HAVE NOT had to go through any Teamster company shutdown like so many of us have.....most recently, the Teamster members at LME on Nov 19. I hope things work out for you and all my other former co-workers at Holland, in spite of the Yellow Freight takeover of what used to be a great company to work for. It has all been downhill since Yellow bought USF Corp. (which included Holland) for $1.4 billion in 2005. (Yellow bought Roadway just 2 yrs prior in 2003 for $966 million). Not bad for a company (Yellow) that was very near bankruptcy in 1991. After all the assets (property and equipment) are liquidated from Yellow's buyouts, they may do it again. When everything is converted into leased equip. and leased property, there is nothing a bankruptcy judgement by "stiffed" former employees can get. Keep a positive attitude (if you can). Nobody will tell you the ship is sinking. You will find out when the water is up to your armpits and the skipper has already abandoned ship. Again, I wish you and all the other good people at Holland, Good Luck.
GeorgiaHomeBoy
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I'm a young guy. What's really ****ed up is I pretty much accept the corporate ass ****** to the average person that goes on in this country. But how the **** do we stop it when the federal reserve gives a buck out and expects more than a buck in return when in reality only that buck existed in the inception of the transaction. Imagine only one dollar existed. How do you loan that one away and expect more than one to come back.
pimpthebrowns
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All the talk of getting unlimited OT I'd recommend investing the extra $$ in a self controlled retirement fund.
joes bar and grill
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Those of you that think you know it all are really irritating those of us that do.