So henry j it looks like you have really got to the bottom of the decline of our forced retirement savings account.
I say forced due to monies that were in written contracts over the years per agreements with the union LTL's,as part of our wage & benefits package.
Of course we can reflect back,however can't change anything that is in the past..
Hindsight,had we not agreed to those pension contributions in the NMFA contracts.
We would of had higher,hourly & milage pay,that we could of been investing a portion of our pay into our own personal retirement funds.
So hey forth-sight is golden where as hindsight is worthless.
You have found in your research that the upper management has squandered our pension.
Well news flash, as far as I know being a Teamster from 1965 that has been an on going practice I believe from the dawn of the contracted fund.
Way back then I knew of a practice called Ghost payrolls where friends & relatives of my local officials from the president, VP, & Treasurer,all were receiving paychecks for nothing.
None of us working Teamsters had better say anything if we knew what was good for us.
Now that I'm retired I doubt theres much they can do to me now,other than stop paying my pension which is going to be reduced by 31%.
But the bottom line is the upper management down to a lot of the locals, have been draining our fund,like forever.
With nothing anybody could do about it without getting themselves in a jam.
Heres one more thing that really ticked me off since I'm going down memory lane.
The president of my local had a car provided to him by the local.
The first Teamster company I worked dock & city for had a gas powered fork lift.
Seeing I was the newbie I was given the chore of going to the fuel island to fill up the gas can every morning after punching in.
Well the first time out I see the local president waiting at the pump,the pump was kept locked & I had to take the key out with me to unlock it.
I was puzzeled about seeing that guy sitting there,but I didn't say anything.
I just unlocked the pump,& he gets out & takes the hose out of my hand & proceeds to fill up his car,says,you didn't see anything & drives away.
I filled up the can,then relocked the pump,turned to walk back up on the dock.
When I saw one of my co-workers standing in the doorway.
He asked me what the president said to me,I told him he said I didn't see anything.
Well then my co-worker says he's right, if you know whats good for you,you didn't see anything,he says he fills his car there all of the time.
I'm thinking well what a no good cheap skate,but I didn't say anything.
Next thing I'm out making deliveries on my route.
Don't this guy pull me over on the side of the road with his car & a car behind him,asking to see my drivers license & union card.
I'm thinking what the heck does he need 2 car loads of suites to check me out?
Well he seemed to be happy that my paperwork was in order & drives away.
After I got back I shared what happened with my co-workers.
They said the guy must have been nervous,that I blew him in for stealing the gas.
He was sending me a message by pulling me over,to make sure I was a teamster in good standing.
So yeah I know all about the good old Teamsters union.
Although not all negative, we did have some pretty good contracts over the years.
It is no secret the ones who were corrupt,had no problem doing their shady deals when the fund had a lot of LTL's contributing.
However now that theres little going in we are all suffering,except I'm thinking maybe the fund wasn't all squandered.
That some of the money has been socked away to take care of the upper management golden parachutes.
Apostolic - Glad to read your response. I'll put in my 2 cents worth. On the pension contributions, you are right. It was OUR money being contributed as part of our contractual pay pkg automatically with-held out of each paycheck, held in escrow & supposedly sent in by the company to CSPF at least quarterly toward our future retirement. Some companies "forgot" about the last part and just kept it. The Fund and IBT did not force the pmts - then many of those companies closed taking the money with them.
I joined the union in about 1970, and yes we did have some good contracts and most, if not all members were happy then, even knowing about the corruption and money skimming. It seemed there was plenty to go around then, and the members had no way of knowing how bad it was or how to change it. There were no elections. The teamster bosses controlled everything including CSPF money and choosing the IBT president up until 1991. After the mob was exposed as using millions in CSPF funds to build Vegas, the gov't stepped in to stop that. They sent Hoffa, Sr, Roy Williams and a few other lesser bosses to prison, passed ERISA in '72 and created a couple "oversight committees" to watch over and control corruption and mob ties. As it turns out, they weren't watching anything. The corruption and money skimming went on as always, it just no longer went to Vegas. Instead it went into the pockets of corrupt Teamster bosses and politicians to keep them "looking the other way" while members' money was being siphoned off.
Not until 1991 did the members finally get the right to vote for union bosses with a secret ballot (first by voting machine at each local then by mail). 32% voted in the first election,. Carey won, but was forced to resign because of phoney charges claimed by unhappy mobsters and longtime union bosses. He was later cleared of all allegations, but in the meantime, Hoffa, Jr was elected in 1998. In spite of all the corruption, dwindling membership, concessions to the companies, the UPS exit with Hoffa's blessing and billions in CSPF money being lost by Nyhan in bad investments, both of these turkeys (Hoffa & Nyhan) keep their jobs along with their huge salaries. Hoffa claims he has no part in running the Fund, you can bet he has connections in high places to make sure his co-conspirator, and key holder to the CSPF "piggy bank", keeps his job.
What ticks me off is that the members keep allowing this to happen by not using their right to cast a secret ballot every 5 years. The latest election had the worst turnout ever at only 16.5% (out of 1,300,000 eligible Teamster voters, only 214,000 bothered to get off their ass and send in a ballot). Pathetic. We are indeed our own worst enemy. Some I've talked to have the attitude "Why vote, it's all rigged anyhow?" or "I don't want the hall to know who I voted for." or "I don't care who wins." or "I've got a good job. I don't want to Rock the Boat". Voter apathy, fear of the union bosses (intimidation), ignorance and laziness (to actually think and send in a ballot) are just some of the reasons we are in so much trouble with bad union leaders and a near bankrupt Fund. Hoffa should have been voted out a long time ago and there should have been an uprising of demand that Nyhan be removed. Now, you are right, it's too late to do anything about all the Fund's missing money. If only minor changes in contributions and/or benefits had been done starting 30 years ago, there wouldn't be a crisis now. The union leaders chose to lie to the members and pretend everything was A-OK with the retirement fund when the KNEW it wasn't. They were only worried about their own re-election time and time again and their own fat paycheck and their own retirement fund. To tell the truth about the Fund being in trouble maybe 20 or 30 years in the future would mean unhappy members who would vote them out (the old "kill the messenger" theory). They chose to bury the truth to keep the members happy with good contracts and lies that did nothing to help the Fund for future retirees. The IBT and CSPF were very happy about "keeping members in the dark" about the sad financial shape of the Fund. Not until 2006 when the PPA was passed, and then by law, the members were informed about the truth. In 2007, Hoffa agreed to let UPS exit the fund with a $6.1 billion cash payout. He gave it to Nyhan who in turn lost all of it plus several billion more in CSPF pension fund money over the next couple years through bad investments and bad choices of money managers on Wall St. The UPS exit meant $600 million less in Fund contributions every year thereafter. UPS had been trying to exit the Fund ever since 1997 and Hoffa finally caved in. After the exit cash of $6.1 billion was paid, UPS officials said they could recoup that amount in about 3 years. Even after all that, most of the members chose to keep their heads in the sand. Nyhan has kept his $694,000 per year job to this day and Hoffa has been re-elected again.
As you found out after the gas pump incident, there are a lot of "snitches" among our so-called "brotherhood" that just love to run down to the hall to "rat out" a brother in order to get brownie points with the union bosses. Since retirement, very few know where I live in a very rural area, but still I wouldn't be surprised to see a couple black suburbans come up my driveway, since I've voiced my opinion on Teamster and CSPF corruption. If that happens, I'm prepared.
For many years, I was a strong supporter of my Local and the Teamsters in general, but there are two thing I cannot tolerate.
That is being lied to or being stolen from. It turns out that the Teamsters and the CSPF have been doing both to me for over 40 years.