LTLAnonymous
TB Veteran
- Credits
- 387
I mean...there's probably a less ignorant way to say that.I’m jumping on the #METOO bandwagon because Judy is F-ing ****** us!!
I mean...there's probably a less ignorant way to say that.I’m jumping on the #METOO bandwagon because Judy is F-ing ****** us!!
Sorry I didn’t realize there were woman on this site.I mean...there's probably a less ignorant way to say that.
Good one, Ronnie.Sorry I didn’t realize there were woman on this site.
Dock and City drivers $35.00 a hour. Our pay rate of 2012 24.50. Here in 2018 pay rate of 2012 24.50.
Annual US Inflation Highest Since 2012 check it out. Every thing goes up but our pay stay flat.
But, we'll be able to say, "Boy those were the days, man, it was good while it lasted, hey Joe....stick a little more wood on that fire and pass me a can of those sardines you just stole! We gotta get in that boxcar pretty quick, this freight train rolls anytime now."You can't swing a dead cat on the Trucking Boards Forum without hitting an ignorant Teamster!!!!! The reason you aren't getting raises is because of the legacy cost of paying for retirees who have never worked for your company!!!!!!! ABF pays $342 a week into CSPF, money an ABF driver will never see again. $545 a week into the New York conference of Teamsters pension fund, which just got slashed 30% from $5,000 to $3,500 and out at 30 years. Not to mention a dozen other Teamster pension funds that make CSPF look cheap. If you consider the total cost of an hours labor, "especially an hours labor at the "special Teamster locals" ", you will see that you are still quite well paid. Even if the fruits of your labor are not going to you. You should not be selfish, it is a virtue to pay for your retired brothers lifestyle. Just look what those retirees have given you!!!!!!!!
I don't care for sardines, but do like Potted Meat and Vi-Ennies...But, we'll be able to say, "Boy those were the days, man, it was good while it lasted, hey Joe....stick a little more wood on that fire and pass me a can of those sardines you just stole! We gotta get in that boxcar pretty quick, this freight train rolls anytime now."
"Market forces" means all LTL compensation packages taken into consideration when study is conducted. In a nutshell,like it or not, we are in this together! I may be employed without collective bargaining agreement,but the IBT represented drivers package has direct correlation with my own.I for one support the strike vote.If union drivers don't prosper we will all be in the same boat as OTR drivers soon!Ahh,.........what am I smoking? Well,.....that ended about 45 years ago.
Maybe I'm finally getting those flashbacks from all the acid I took back in the '70's..............And here all this time I've been cursing those dealers who I thought burned me.........
We'll have to see,...like everyone says,....what the negotiating committee comes up with. Yes,.....package car drivers do have to hustle. But,...they don't carry HAZ-MAT, or break sets,.....or worry about weight and height restrictions,....or a myriad of other things that LTL freight drivers...( ..you included, Brother....)...have to do. The skill set may be different,.......but the hustle and liability factor are similar. Actually,...the liability factor may be greater for LTL drivers.
As you know at SAIA,.....the employees don't get a chance to negotiate nothing.....It's "take it, or leave it"......based on what THEY say is "market conditions". I'm presuming you've been around for a while, and you know that, decades ago,....the Union set the benchmark for what driver pay and conditions would be,........and the non-Unions responded based on availability of the driver pool.
The industry has changed drastically within the last few years. But,.....that doesn't mean that the drivers and dock workers have to short their own families to support this industry. LTL trucking USED to be the highest-paid blue-collar job in America,.....because of the hours and conditions. It is no longer the highest paid,......but the conditions have gotten worse, along with the regulatory climate.
What that means is that LTL trucking is no longer in it's own tiny little world , as far as the National Labor force goes. LTL trucking management is now in competition with plumbers, electricians, steel-workers, and a host of other occupations that are paying the same ,....if not (much)....more than LTL trucking.......for employees in the shrinking labor pool.
Go read Milton Friedman.....a darling of conservative economic thought,...........and he will tell you that,.....in a shrinking labor pool, wages will rise, and have NO correlation to market forces. In other words,.....Pay high wages,...or close the doors.
The issue is......Does ArcBest want to "close the doors"? If not,.....then they'll have to pay artificially high wages until the labor pool stabilizes.
And,......that will help you, Brother. "A rising tide floats all boats"....I believe is how the old saying goes.......
The Union guys will do the "heavy lifting" (negotiating...)......and the entire LTL field will benefit.......
You're Welcome........
You can't swing a dead cat on the Trucking Boards Forum without hitting an ignorant Teamster!!!!! The reason you aren't getting raises is because of the legacy cost of paying for retirees who have never worked for your company!!!!!!! ABF pays $342 a week into CSPF, money an ABF driver will never see again. $545 a week into the New York conference of Teamsters pension fund, which just got slashed 30% from $5,000 to $3,500 and out at 30 years. Not to mention a dozen other Teamster pension funds that make CSPF look cheap. If you consider the total cost of an hours labor, "especially an hours labor at the "special Teamster locals" ", you will see that you are still quite well paid. Even if the fruits of your labor are not going to you. You should not be selfish, it is a virtue to pay for your retired brothers lifestyle. Just look what those retirees have given you!!!!!!!!
Let's not forget our republican controlled congress who squashed the Butch Lewis Act. It had 148 cosponsors in the house yet the ranking republicans wouldn't even allow it to the floor for debate. Democrats called it a revenue neutral trust fund and republicans called it a bailout. Republicans along with corporations want to eliminate defined benefit pension funds. The new commission on pensions had better come up with a solution or the PBCG won't be able to handle all the pension funds that default. Then the so called bailout will be a lot bigger.So,......you can see the employer's desperation in trying to...."cripple"....these funds once and for all......If they don't do it now,......the funds will recover and be just as strong as ever.
The fund is still going to go broke, regardless of who is to blame. As such the cuts need to be made now. The fact is the mandatory pension increases dictated by the pension protection act of 2006 have significantly cut back on raises for ABF drivers. Hence they all want to go on strike, even if it kills ABF. Losing another major contributor will just kill CSPF that much earlier. Canary it is time you put active employees and the Teamsters Union's interest in front of your own.Ouch!.....that dead cat was pretty stiff.....
I am a retired Teamster,....who is a Poster Boy for what they call "orphans". I worked for Gateway, Motor Freight, Maislin, Mason-Dixon, Werner-Continental, Hall's, Automobile Transport, Nu-Car Carriers, and M & G Convoy.
All of those companies paid into the pension fund for the time I was employed by them. When I wasn't,.....they didn't. The time I got credited for was.....exactly,....the time I got paid into the fund by the companies. I don't see where I got ......anything,....I wasn't entitled to.
The flip side of "legacy" costs,....is that I have a......legacy....of being employed by Teamster companies who paid into the pension fund right up to when they went bankrupt.
Whether it was Deregulation,....or company mismanagement and malfeasance,.....is kind of beside the point, don't you think?
The IBT was more of a factor in the problems of the CSPF,.....than the employers were. By allowing key employers to....de-fund,.....the pension fund,....they literally threw a hand grenade into the finest pension system for working people in this country.
If you follow politics,.....you know that just about all Multi-Employer pension funds were flush with money up to about 2008. After that, the collapse.....some say "manufactured" collapse of Wall Street,....and the CRIMINAL lack of support from our Solons of Legislation in Congress crippled just about every fund out there.
Did we do anything wrong....as Teamsters?
NO.....
It seems, though, that many people are trying to justify pension cuts by finding a "culprit".......and I guess the "culprit" is those of us Teamsters who worked for companies that went bankrupt. I think that's more "divide and conquer"...than anything else.
The problem with many pension funds,...is that they are "top-heavy" with older employees. That would be the fault of the employers and deregulation. If you notice,....there is No Program for training LTL drivers,....hasn't been one since Deregulation. All any employer had to do was wait for the next LTL bankruptcy,....and ,...there you go! A new batch of new hires, ....trained and ready to go....Why waste money on an apprentice program, like EVERY OTHER industry?
Because of that employer short-sightedness,......our pension funds are looking at massive outlays in the next 10 years. Even during the last contract talks, ABF admitted that 75% of their employees were within 5 years of retirement..The employers brought that on themselves,....and now they're looking for a "scapegoat" to blame THEIR actions on.........Don't fall for it........
The "good" out of all this,.....is that once the large group of elderly employees,....is digested through that Large Python of the pension fund...( if I may be so crude...)...is that, demographically,.....the Pension funds should have a relatively long period of relatively long-term employees that the employers would be paying for,....long-term. That would stabilize just about all Defined-Benefit Multi-Employer plans.
So,......you can see the employer's desperation in trying to...."cripple"....these funds once and for all......If they don't do it now,......the funds will recover and be just as strong as ever.
My Opinion........
The fund is still going to go broke, regardless of who is to blame. As such the cuts need to be made now. The fact is the mandatory pension increases dictated by the pension protection act of 2006 have significantly cut back on raises for ABF drivers. Hence they all want to go on strike, even if it kills ABF. Losing another major contributor will just kill CSPF that much earlier. Canary it is time you put active employees and the Teamsters Union's interest in front of your own.
Canary if all of the bankrupt companies you worked for paid in enough to fund your pension. Why was it necessary for congress to pass the pension protection act of 2006. Which you know 2006 predates the great market meltdown of 2008. The mandatory pension increases of the PPA of 2006 have significantly lowered ABF drivers wages. Also Canary the expert pension witness of NUCPP stated, CSPF troubles are the result of large retroactive pension increases to employees whos employers have gone bankrupt. Collectively Canary how much in withdraw penalties did your former employers stiff CSPF for? ABF drivers will always have sub par wages as long as they are saddled with the legacy cost of orphans. Partition CSPF now, let the PBGC pay orphan pensions.