One nice thing about being a Teamsters in my earlier years of LTL.
Was the pension followed me from one union company to another.
I worked for 15 different LTL's 13 union,Overnite was the 14th,which became the freight division of UPS.
So prior to Overnite I had 20 plus years vested from credit of my hours of service with the combination of the 13 companies.
We all know this would be very difficult now days with the scarcity of union LTL companies that remain in the NMFA.
Yes I will be the first to say I'm very blessed the way things worked out for me regarding my pensions.
At the time which was right after deregulation kicked in.
LTL companies were going bankrupt at an alarming rate.
We union drivers never knew who to try to get full time work with as all these companies I worked for back in the day,are now all history.
With the exception of Yellow who I was just able to get occasional work with,because there were so many other drivers from failed companies,competing for the same jobs.
The remaining union LTL's would not have to hire anyone,they could use whoever they wanted for a few days,then pick someone else where our time would expire for full time work at one place.
Those were very bad times,to wake up with a phone list of union LTL companies,and call in to see if any had work for me.
However looking back at being a Teamster in the NMFA at least I had a good pension that followed me from one union company to the other.
I know you youngsters can't relate to any of the old days,which in my opinion,you are better off keeping your noses clean and sticking with one company for your pay,and bennies.
Was the pension followed me from one union company to another.
I worked for 15 different LTL's 13 union,Overnite was the 14th,which became the freight division of UPS.
So prior to Overnite I had 20 plus years vested from credit of my hours of service with the combination of the 13 companies.
We all know this would be very difficult now days with the scarcity of union LTL companies that remain in the NMFA.
Yes I will be the first to say I'm very blessed the way things worked out for me regarding my pensions.
At the time which was right after deregulation kicked in.
LTL companies were going bankrupt at an alarming rate.
We union drivers never knew who to try to get full time work with as all these companies I worked for back in the day,are now all history.
With the exception of Yellow who I was just able to get occasional work with,because there were so many other drivers from failed companies,competing for the same jobs.
The remaining union LTL's would not have to hire anyone,they could use whoever they wanted for a few days,then pick someone else where our time would expire for full time work at one place.
Those were very bad times,to wake up with a phone list of union LTL companies,and call in to see if any had work for me.
However looking back at being a Teamster in the NMFA at least I had a good pension that followed me from one union company to the other.
I know you youngsters can't relate to any of the old days,which in my opinion,you are better off keeping your noses clean and sticking with one company for your pay,and bennies.
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