Hey UT.........we need to never forget where we came from. Most of the benifits we enjoy today are the results from a strike, greivance or law that was passed from the drivers-dockworkers before us. Nothing is 100%.....no matter what the issue is you will have people for it and some against it. We must realize there is always decent, but it should never be at the cost of new members. DS.

DS, i hear you. I just can't figure out why there's such a negative outlook towards people you don't even know. These guys don't remember that they were casuals once. And to say "who cares what happens to this place after I leave" is the most pathetic thing I ever heard. God forbid you union claims bankruptcy and can't afford to get you your check. Let the government take over your $$$ and see where you'll be : in the poor house you dumb F It's a shame that people think & talk like this but it's like I said earlier, ignorance is a disease !

I think the ones that are talking negative about joining the Union are still upset about the pension issue. I think it all goes back to that. At least that is when I remember all the disgust grow and get prevalent with our organization.

The changes in our pension in my region has caused me to work 4 more years than expected. I will be 57 then and have 34 years of service with Central States. And I will still be penalized for my age....:(

This post is not meant to talk negative about the IBT or Central States. But it is meant to tell what happened to me. And I am sure there are a lot of others like me....

I agree with you DS "WE" need to do what we can and help the organization grow. But it gets hard for me when "THEY" ask me about pension issues. How do you tell them them might have to work until there late 50's or early 60's before they can afford to retire? With the penalty for the age and the insurance premiums they will have to pay. I think the cap on insurance premiums is $1050.00 a month.

In the nut shell if you come to a Union carrier covered by Central States and the NMFA and you are 18 years of age. At the present requirements you will have to work until you are 57 just to be able to get medical insurance. It is not available until age 57. That would make you have 39 years of service and you would still get a percentage of your retirement taken away because you are not ....62 or 63... I forget that age there.....

you hit it on the money ut
many of the "old timers" i've encountered say the same thing about not caring once they are done
well in reality they soon find out they have to care as it is their benefits and pensions they discover are not written in stone and are subject to change
that change will occur without the proper growth of the existing jobs and the union not growing with new jobs
everyone right now working or retired are affected and are paying the price for inaction, for the organizing complacency the union displayed for the period of 1975 thru 1996
during this period nothing occurred as far as organizing,at least in freight and in fact we expierenced our largest shrinking with the jobs in freight that went bye bye
the result of those major factors and the additional fact of life of the ridiculous $$$$$$ rise in the cost of healthcare are what is crippling all right now
the misnomer that "i don"t care once i am done or out " is one stupid, selfish and in reality a meaningless statement because retiring does not protect you from the inequities we face it only limits your ability to effect change

one point of contention is if it is affecting us in this manner, what do the non union guys think ? do they also like our "done" brothers think they are immune, well think again as it is all of our problemthe companies will always change the "rules" to shift more of the economic burden onto you no matter what:owned: in the unionized segment at least there is a protocol they must follow with at least some obstacles in their way
in the non union segment there is nothing, you take what they give period, no say, no nuthin
that should be a major incentive alone to join with the unionized segment
the only solution is unity as there is always power in numbers

Steve, for some reason these guys seem to think that their bennies & pension ARE set in stone. They are stubborn and refuse to look at the bigger picture. At least NP puts guys on the list EVERY year unlike alot of other jobs that gotta go complaining to the local about their bosses not hiring anybody. Yet my braindead co-workers (like the one you saw driving our trailer) continue to complain about inexperienced new guys. Hello you dumb F, you were one yourself 20 yrs. ago ! You couldn't back in between two 48's perfectly once upon a time either. I tell guys all the time that the entire industry, not just NP, have to hire these guys because of the lack of available quality drivers. This aint brain surgery, they'll get the hang of it and hopefully they'll stay long enough to keep funding you pension !

i know what you mean ut
i have spoken to whatshisname at length about things in regards to new guys and thought i had him thinking about it in the right direction, he knows what we are saying is right but like many other guys he tends to overemphasize his importance to the company being a senior man and all
like these companies actually truly gives a rats a s s who drives their trucks
my company is notorious for a difficult hiring process and only hire new guys when they absolutely have to
they prefer to cartage it out and utilize their difficult screening/hiring policy as a pretext to advance that practice
my terminal for example grew over 25% in the workload but we have less guys today than we did 4 years ago
unlike abf even though we experienced heavy growth, new p is desperate for guys as your workload is tremendous simply different management philosophies
when your management gets to the point whereas they turn their thinking around they too will increase cartage more and more
yeah the ot is through the roof and the $$$$ are good but it don't help the H&W fund one bit and that is where the problem lies
the union has two choices either pull all these new hires outta their collective
a s s e s or start "taxing" these companies for excessive ot and placing the funds collected into the H&W fund's treasury until the major non union companies get organized