XPO | Xpo Union Thread.

[ED FORCE ONE]

My wife keeps close tabs on all the goings on.
Not that she sits there in front of the TV all day.
But she listens. Radio too. I would say she is obsessed.
Ya. Obsessed.
I can't talk polltics even with her.
But I tell her the people she likes so far are not gonna be anywhere near a candidate. At least my common sense tells me that.
She is a very down to earth very opinionated woman. Smart.
Smarter than I am. I'll admit that. But that's only because her capacity to remember even small things haunt me. Ya. Even the stuff I do and can't remember I did. Lol.
But she follows it pretty close even now. Which I can't do. Because even what's there can't unite and get along. And they are in the same party. That's one thing either side has to do to win. Unite. Even if it means one's candidacy is at stake.
Did I mention I don't like politics?
No two are ever gonna agree.
And one can't convince the other.
I try and like to keep my opinions on it to myself.
Only because of the aforementioned.
And I won't try and convince anyone to.my thinking.
Nobody cares what I think anyway.
So. I just use my vote.
And that includes voting on union issues.
I think that the last contract had the or had the largest vote turnout in a very long time.
It was important. And it's hard to believe people don't vote on union issues.
If it does come to that with xpo I would hope for a large turnout for votes.

My

My wife keeps close tabs on all the goings on.
Not that she sits there in front of the TV all day.
But she listens. Radio too. I would say she is obsessed.
Ya. Obsessed.
I can't talk polltics even with her.
But I tell her the people she likes so far are not gonna be anywhere near a candidate. At least my common sense tells me that.
She is a very down to earth very opinionated woman. Smart.
Smarter than I am. I'll admit that. But that's only because her capacity to remember even small things haunt me. Ya. Even the stuff I do and can't remember I did. Lol.
But she follows it pretty close even now. Which I can't do. Because even what's there can't unite and get along. And they are in the same party. That's one thing either side has to do to win. Unite. Even if it means one's candidacy is at stake.
Did I mention I don't like politics?
No two are ever gonna agree.
And one can't convince the other.
I try and like to keep my opinions on it to myself.
Only because of the aforementioned.
And I won't try and convince anyone to.my thinking.
Nobody cares what I think anyway.
So. I just use my vote.
And that includes voting on union issues.
I think that the last contract had the or had the largest vote turnout in a very long time.
It was important. And it's hard to believe people don't vote on union issues.
If it does come to that with xpo I would hope for a large turnout for votes.

My next door neighbor is 95 year old ww2 vet his answer to politics is " im not in washington dc at the back room meeting so i cant tell you whats really going on" if we all used that method truckingboards would be two help wanted adds and an apple pie

Good discussion going on here so let me throw in my 2 cents. A couple of guys hit on the 2 wage earner family being today's status quo, the question is why has that become so? Without reviewing any data, I'm just gonna take a stab in the dark, but here is my best guess. The apex of union power in the country was after WWII through the early 1970's. Where did that strength come from? The easy answer is numbers, but I think it runs deeper than that. Union strength came from a large availability of money in the private sector, money that isn't so available now. But there's more. Buying power was greater then than it is now, by far. I remember when I was a kid in 1973, my father bought a new 3/4 ton Chevy window van for, if I remember right....$3700.00. How much would that same van cost today? What's a 3/4 ton pick up truck cost today? What happened to the value of our currency from then to now? Let's look at cars again, this time moving up 10 years. The late seventies ushered in the era of unleaded gasoline, why did we need it? Because of new emissions standards that required catalytic converters. And this wasn't isolated to just cars, oh no, the government started mandating all kinds of new rules and regulations pertaining to everything from pollution, to water conservation, to workplace safety, and tort law which makes it way easier for frivolous law suits to be viable. Along with the new regulations came compliance costs in the form of fines, fees, permits, and expenditures, just like the latest expenditure our company is about to fork out for the new mandated ELD software. Now I'm not saying I'm against all govt intervention, but there is no denying the cumulative effect of all this bull:::::: occurring over time, not to mention the new taxes we've had to fork out as the federal govt expands, eventually pulls money out of the private sector, both from businesses and individuals. What else has changed for the worse? Oh the new global economy, that's what. I think one of the worst things that ever happened to our country was Nixon giving China access to the United States. Look at what an economic monster China has evolved into. Over the decades Congresses and Presidents since Nixon have made trade deals with China and then stood by and watched them take our good paying jobs. As a kid, my best friend's dad drove truck for Zenith, the company that used to make television sets right here in the USA, it was Teamster job and he made damn good money. Zenith went away and so did his job, like so many other solid manufacturing jobs of durable goods. Bringing it up to today. Looking back after the 18 months or so, as to how our company has reacted to a slowing economy and depressed freight levels, I am open to hearing about what the Teamsters can do for the drivers. But at the same time, I also must realize that while our company has relatively deep pockets, they aren't the same deep pockets of decades gone by and that it's no longer possible that today's union benefits ever equate to those of years gone by.

Im in chicago ,zenith was big here, a few people in the neighborhood collect a zenith pension

 

[ED FORCE ONE]

and brachs candy pension

 

[highspeeds]

Good discussion going on here so let me throw in my 2 cents. A couple of guys hit on the 2 wage earner family being today's status quo, the question is why has that become so? Without reviewing any data, I'm just gonna take a stab in the dark, but here is my best guess. The apex of union power in the country was after WWII through the early 1970's. Where did that strength come from? The easy answer is numbers, but I think it runs deeper than that. Union strength came from a large availability of money in the private sector, money that isn't so available now. But there's more. Buying power was greater then than it is now, by far. I remember when I was a kid in 1973, my father bought a new 3/4 ton Chevy window van for, if I remember right....$3700.00. How much would that same van cost today? What's a 3/4 ton pick up truck cost today? What happened to the value of our currency from then to now? Let's look at cars again, this time moving up 10 years. The late seventies ushered in the era of unleaded gasoline, why did we need it? Because of new emissions standards that required catalytic converters. And this wasn't isolated to just cars, oh no, the government started mandating all kinds of new rules and regulations pertaining to everything from pollution, to water conservation, to workplace safety, and tort law which makes it way easier for frivolous law suits to be viable. Along with the new regulations came compliance costs in the form of fines, fees, permits, and expenditures, just like the latest expenditure our company is about to fork out for the new mandated ELD software. Now I'm not saying I'm against all govt intervention, but there is no denying the cumulative effect of all this bull:::::: occurring over time, not to mention the new taxes we've had to fork out as the federal govt expands, eventually pulls money out of the private sector, both from businesses and individuals. What else has changed for the worse? Oh the new global economy, that's what. I think one of the worst things that ever happened to our country was Nixon giving China access to the United States. Look at what an economic monster China has evolved into. Over the decades Congresses and Presidents since Nixon have made trade deals with China and then stood by and watched them take our good paying jobs. As a kid, my best friend's dad drove truck for Zenith, the company that used to make television sets right here in the USA, it was Teamster job and he made damn good money. Zenith went away and so did his job, like so many other solid manufacturing jobs of durable goods. Bringing it up to today. Looking back after the 18 months or so, as to how our company has reacted to a slowing economy and depressed freight levels, I am open to hearing about what the Teamsters can do for the drivers. But at the same time, I also must realize that while our company has relatively deep pockets, they aren't the same deep pockets of decades gone by and that it's no longer possible that today's union benefits ever equate to those of years gone by.

If there are 100,000 employees as Jacobs says. And they all got a $5,000 raise in compensation. That would be $500,000,000.00 out of pocket on a company that measures things in billions. So 1/2 of one billion.

 

[highspeeds]

Good discussion going on here so let me throw in my 2 cents. A couple of guys hit on the 2 wage earner family being today's status quo, the question is why has that become so? Without reviewing any data, I'm just gonna take a stab in the dark, but here is my best guess. The apex of union power in the country was after WWII through the early 1970's. Where did that strength come from? The easy answer is numbers, but I think it runs deeper than that. Union strength came from a large availability of money in the private sector, money that isn't so available now. But there's more. Buying power was greater then than it is now, by far. I remember when I was a kid in 1973, my father bought a new 3/4 ton Chevy window van for, if I remember right....$3700.00. How much would that same van cost today? What's a 3/4 ton pick up truck cost today? What happened to the value of our currency from then to now? Let's look at cars again, this time moving up 10 years. The late seventies ushered in the era of unleaded gasoline, why did we need it? Because of new emissions standards that required catalytic converters. And this wasn't isolated to just cars, oh no, the government started mandating all kinds of new rules and regulations pertaining to everything from pollution, to water conservation, to workplace safety, and tort law which makes it way easier for frivolous law suits to be viable. Along with the new regulations came compliance costs in the form of fines, fees, permits, and expenditures, just like the latest expenditure our company is about to fork out for the new mandated ELD software. Now I'm not saying I'm against all govt intervention, but there is no denying the cumulative effect of all this bull:::::: occurring over time, not to mention the new taxes we've had to fork out as the federal govt expands, eventually pulls money out of the private sector, both from businesses and individuals. What else has changed for the worse? Oh the new global economy, that's what. I think one of the worst things that ever happened to our country was Nixon giving China access to the United States. Look at what an economic monster China has evolved into. Over the decades Congresses and Presidents since Nixon have made trade deals with China and then stood by and watched them take our good paying jobs. As a kid, my best friend's dad drove truck for Zenith, the company that used to make television sets right here in the USA, it was Teamster job and he made damn good money. Zenith went away and so did his job, like so many other solid manufacturing jobs of durable goods. Bringing it up to today. Looking back after the 18 months or so, as to how our company has reacted to a slowing economy and depressed freight levels, I am open to hearing about what the Teamsters can do for the drivers. But at the same time, I also must realize that while our company has relatively deep pockets, they aren't the same deep pockets of decades gone by and that it's no longer possible that today's union benefits ever equate to those of years gone by.

But China did it's damage most recently. After the turn of the century. You can't put all of that back in the 70's on China.

 

[radman]

If there are 100,000 employees as Jacobs says. And they all got a $5,000 raise in compensation. That would be $500,000,000.00 out of pocket on a company that measures things in billions. So 1/2 of one billion.

They spent 2.5 billion just buying back stock. Shows you where the priority is.

 

[highspeeds]

They spent 2.5 billion just buying back stock. Shows you where the priority is.

The worst parts of that are. They needed to. Or we would have been bought out. The math on this company has always been off. And they didn't spend to do it. They took on debt to do the stock purchase. Which has made the sale unlikely for now. But Jacobs whole plan from the start was to sell for profit and he just submarined his own intentions. So now what ?

 

[White]

Good discussion going on here so let me throw in my 2 cents. A couple of guys hit on the 2 wage earner family being today's status quo, the question is why has that become so? Without reviewing any data, I'm just gonna take a stab in the dark, but here is my best guess. The apex of union power in the country was after WWII through the early 1970's. Where did that strength come from? The easy answer is numbers, but I think it runs deeper than that. Union strength came from a large availability of money in the private sector, money that isn't so available now. But there's more. Buying power was greater then than it is now, by far. I remember when I was a kid in 1973, my father bought a new 3/4 ton Chevy window van for, if I remember right....$3700.00. How much would that same van cost today? What's a 3/4 ton pick up truck cost today? What happened to the value of our currency from then to now? Let's look at cars again, this time moving up 10 years. The late seventies ushered in the era of unleaded gasoline, why did we need it? Because of new emissions standards that required catalytic converters. And this wasn't isolated to just cars, oh no, the government started mandating all kinds of new rules and regulations pertaining to everything from pollution, to water conservation, to workplace safety, and tort law which makes it way easier for frivolous law suits to be viable. Along with the new regulations came compliance costs in the form of fines, fees, permits, and expenditures, just like the latest expenditure our company is about to fork out for the new mandated ELD software. Now I'm not saying I'm against all govt intervention, but there is no denying the cumulative effect of all this bull:::::: occurring over time, not to mention the new taxes we've had to fork out as the federal govt expands, eventually pulls money out of the private sector, both from businesses and individuals. What else has changed for the worse? Oh the new global economy, that's what. I think one of the worst things that ever happened to our country was Nixon giving China access to the United States. Look at what an economic monster China has evolved into. Over the decades Congresses and Presidents since Nixon have made trade deals with China and then stood by and watched them take our good paying jobs. As a kid, my best friend's dad drove truck for Zenith, the company that used to make television sets right here in the USA, it was Teamster job and he made damn good money. Zenith went away and so did his job, like so many other solid manufacturing jobs of durable goods. Bringing it up to today. Looking back after the 18 months or so, as to how our company has reacted to a slowing economy and depressed freight levels, I am open to hearing about what the Teamsters can do for the drivers. But at the same time, I also must realize that while our company has relatively deep pockets, they aren't the same deep pockets of decades gone by and that it's no longer possible that today's union benefits ever equate to those of years gone by.

A different view on the two wage family. My generation, both boys & girls were “expected” to go to college. Which one doesn’t use their degree to work? Feminism also, I think, played a role in getting women “out of the kitchen”. Keeping up with the Joneses means two SUV’s etc. Today’s college education costs are way out of bounds.
My wife & I made decisions early on. Stop at one child or can we afford two? Got twins the second time. I worked six days a week for 10 or 12 years. She started working part time at the kids school when they were all in school. Fast forward, they’re on their own, wife’s full time (by her choice), and I work 60 in 5 days. Same house kids were born in, finally replaced 15 year old pickup, etc.
Point is: Greed, in one form or another, drives a lot of parents to work.

 

[highspeeds]

A different view on the two wage family. My generation, both boys & girls were “expected” to go to college. Which one doesn’t use their degree to work? Feminism also, I think, played a role in getting women “out of the kitchen”. Keeping up with the Joneses means two SUV’s etc. Today’s college education costs are way out of bounds.
My wife & I made decisions early on. Stop at one child or can we afford two? Got twins the second time. I worked six days a week for 10 or 12 years. She started working part time at the kids school when they were all in school. Fast forward, they’re on their own, wife’s full time (by her choice), and I work 60 in 5 days. Same house kids were born in, finally replaced 15 year old pickup, etc.
Point is: Greed, in one form or another, drives a lot of parents to work.

I am sure that where you are and cost of living will factor in as well. And you were fortunate enough to feel greedy. But what about the families that aren't so lucky ? What if one of you or your children got sick in a bad way ? Could you have still done what you did ?

 

[Hollywoodz]

The only problem with this analogy is that, you need the elephant to be strong and healthy for you to benefit. Making it a complex decision to push it off the cliff.

That's an excellent point. We want to move it...but not too far either. We sure don't want it to die. I need to go back to analogy class. Lately, mine have been lacking!!!

 

[ED FORCE ONE]

A different view on the two wage family. My generation, both boys & girls were “expected” to go to college. Which one doesn’t use their degree to work? Feminism also, I think, played a role in getting women “out of the kitchen”. Keeping up with the Joneses means two SUV’s etc. Today’s college education costs are way out of bounds.
My wife & I made decisions early on. Stop at one child or can we afford two? Got twins the second time. I worked six days a week for 10 or 12 years. She started working part time at the kids school when they were all in school. Fast forward, they’re on their own, wife’s full time (by her choice), and I work 60 in 5 days. Same house kids were born in, finally replaced 15 year old pickup, etc.
Point is: Greed, in one form or another, drives a lot of parents to work.

When i see fancy house ,ingroud pool , highend suv triple axle trailer boat in driveway and sportcars i say these people are probably in debt up to their eyeballs the interest they pay per year is all my paychecks or more

 

[mysticobra]

Illness or injuries or even elective surgery that has to be done can wipe a family out.
Trust me. I know.
We have been through it.
Fortunately we made it through the the skin on our nose and will be comfortable in retirement.
Now I'm not saying rich. Comfortable.
Roof over our head we don't have to woro about.
Bill's are paid. Future bills will be no problem.
But it was a rough ten years to get back to a point where we could move on.
This not only happened to one of us. We both got hit with stuff no one saw coming.
By fortunate I mean a strong family bond.
If we were by ourselves we'd be done.
9 months on disability leave paying bills with savings wpoed it out.
Just 9 months. In the meantime my wife. Who made more than I was forced into disability retirement. By the post office.
So. Expect the unexpected.
We are past it. Some cannot make it past it and survive it financially.
It's not easy. And it does mean that it does not have to be the kids who get sick.
It could be you. Or your wife.

 

[ED FORCE ONE]

Illness or injuries or even elective surgery that has to be done can wipe a family out.
Trust me. I know.
We have been through it.
Fortunately we made it through the the skin on our nose and will be comfortable in retirement.
Now I'm not saying rich. Comfortable.
Roof over our head we don't have to woro about.
Bill's are paid. Future bills will be no problem.
But it was a rough ten years to get back to a point where we could move on.
This not only happened to one of us. We both got hit with stuff no one saw coming.
By fortunate I mean a strong family bond.
If we were by ourselves we'd be done.
9 months on disability leave paying bills with savings wpoed it out.
Just 9 months. In the meantime my wife. Who made more than I was forced into disability retirement. By the post office.
So. Expect the unexpected.
We are past it. Some cannot make it past it and survive it financially.
It's not easy. And it does mean that it does not have to be the kids who get sick.
It could be you. Or your wife.

That union job welcomed you back a scabber would have told you to beat it

 

[mysticobra]

That union job welcomed you back a scabber would have told you to beat it

Ya.
I was welcomed back.
Mostly by my co workers. Not necessarily the company.
But they had to let me back.
Come to think of it they (the company) was so sloppy they didn't ask me for.a release from the Dr. I just went back to work with help from my coworkers.
Which to this day I still appreciate.
With a union you can't lose your job because of extended illness.
Without. A company can just replace for any reason.
I know people who have been on leave for over a year.
Not because of illness. But because they are working somewhere else without quitting.
If it doesn't work out. They just step back in.

 

[White]

I am sure that where you are and cost of living will factor in as well. And you were fortunate enough to feel greedy. But what about the families that aren't so lucky ? What if one of you or your children got sick in a bad way ? Could you have still done what you did ?

Greed wasn’t part of our equation, thus her staying home with the kids. Some say you make your own luck. Lucky for sure with our health, don’t know what insurance would’ve covered, etc. Fair points, but I was rendering some reasons why the masses need the double checks.

 

[ED FORCE ONE]

Greed wasn’t part of our equation, thus her staying home with the kids. Some say you make your own luck. Lucky for sure with our health, don’t know what insurance would’ve covered, etc. Fair points, but I was rendering some reasons why the masses need the double checks.

Because the leave it to beaver days are over

 

[Hollywoodz]

Good discussion going on here so let me throw in my 2 cents. A couple of guys hit on the 2 wage earner family being today's status quo, the question is why has that become so? Without reviewing any data, I'm just gonna take a stab in the dark, but here is my best guess. The apex of union power in the country was after WWII through the early 1970's. Where did that strength come from? The easy answer is numbers, but I think it runs deeper than that. Union strength came from a large availability of money in the private sector, money that isn't so available now. But there's more. Buying power was greater then than it is now, by far. I remember when I was a kid in 1973, my father bought a new 3/4 ton Chevy window van for, if I remember right....$3700.00. How much would that same van cost today? What's a 3/4 ton pick up truck cost today? What happened to the value of our currency from then to now? Let's look at cars again, this time moving up 10 years. The late seventies ushered in the era of unleaded gasoline, why did we need it? Because of new emissions standards that required catalytic converters. And this wasn't isolated to just cars, oh no, the government started mandating all kinds of new rules and regulations pertaining to everything from pollution, to water conservation, to workplace safety, and tort law which makes it way easier for frivolous law suits to be viable. Along with the new regulations came compliance costs in the form of fines, fees, permits, and expenditures, just like the latest expenditure our company is about to fork out for the new mandated ELD software. Now I'm not saying I'm against all govt intervention, but there is no denying the cumulative effect of all this bull:::::: occurring over time, not to mention the new taxes we've had to fork out as the federal govt expands, eventually pulls money out of the private sector, both from businesses and individuals. What else has changed for the worse? Oh the new global economy, that's what. I think one of the worst things that ever happened to our country was Nixon giving China access to the United States. Look at what an economic monster China has evolved into. Over the decades Congresses and Presidents since Nixon have made trade deals with China and then stood by and watched them take our good paying jobs. As a kid, my best friend's dad drove truck for Zenith, the company that used to make television sets right here in the USA, it was Teamster job and he made damn good money. Zenith went away and so did his job, like so many other solid manufacturing jobs of durable goods. Bringing it up to today. Looking back after the 18 months or so, as to how our company has reacted to a slowing economy and depressed freight levels, I am open to hearing about what the Teamsters can do for the drivers. But at the same time, I also must realize that while our company has relatively deep pockets, they aren't the same deep pockets of decades gone by and that it's no longer possible that today's union benefits ever equate to those of years gone by.

You said a lot in there brother. There is no doubt that buying power is not nearly what it used to be. I'm not sure about the availability of money in the private sector, but I do think the main reason for the plunge in buying power is because wages have not kept up with inflation. Your dad's pick up truck is a perfect example of what your money CAN"T buy now. Same goes for everything we need to live our lives on a daily basis.

Most government regulations certainly add cost to products and services. It costs more to run a clean factory or manufacturing plant and those additional costs are passed on to us. It's just my opinion that most of those regulations are a necessary evil, because big business cannot be trusted to police themselves. I remember driving back to NY from Florida in 1972. As we came through New Jersey, we could feel the air get "thicker" for lack of a better word. As we entered the Holland Tunnel to NY, we could see a thick cloud of pollution hanging over NYC. We never really noticed it ntil we left and then, returned.

The foundation of all of the issues we face today can be retraced to corporate greed. There's not enough space here nor do I have enough knowledge of economics to back that statement up. I haven't reviewed any data either, so this is my best guess, for what it's worth. Every single company that left the US for China, Mexico, Viet Nam or wherever did so for one singular reason; Cheap Labor and the failure of our own government to protect American workers by allowing it to happen. How they could have prevented this exodus is a discussion for another time. I hate to say this but tariffs are the most effective method of protecting American labor...he's just doing it the wrong way. I think they might have presented it as an opportunity to bring affordable products back to the American market. Sounds good, until you consider the possibility that all those Americans who lost their jobs to this policy no longer have enough income to purchase these products.

Unions offer protection to workers who would other wise be at the mercy of corporate America. When your business philosophy values profit above all else, the working man gets hurt. Unions are not the cure all here. So much more has to happen to bring this country back to valuing the middle class and supporting the middle class. But in the meantime, unions offer us job security and a voice in the work place. Unions force companies to do better. It's my opinion that this company and most of the other LTL companies CAN afford to give us the exact same benefits received by those who came before us.They just don't want to. It hurts their profits.

 

[Hollywoodz]

Greed wasn’t part of our equation, thus her staying home with the kids. Some say you make your own luck. Lucky for sure with our health, don’t know what insurance would’ve covered, etc. Fair points, but I was rendering some reasons why the masses need the double checks.

Many live beyond their means and to compensate, the wife goes out to work. Sometimes this isn't even enough and people fall into deep debt. You could call it greed and I can't think of any thing else, but what ever you call it, it's not good. I'm not sure that a man, working one good job, with a wife and two kids, can keep up with the economic demands that raising a family presents today especially with respect to health care and retirement.

After mortgage, food and all the other necessary daily expenses, how much can you save? I'm not even talking about the 60 inch TV, or the new car, or the 900 dollar cell phones for the kids. The average salary in this country is around 59K. That's average and half are making less. One man working to provide for a family is an economic slave to his company. We are all one serious illness away from bankruptcy and may very well be dependent on Social Security as the bulk of our retirement income. These realities have to hit home, sooner or later and when they do, that's when we all will realize that this country cannot function without us. That's when we'll be able to do something about it.

 

[upnorth]

You said a lot in there brother. There is no doubt that buying power is not nearly what it used to be. I'm not sure about the availability of money in the private sector, but I do think the main reason for the plunge in buying power is because wages have not kept up with inflation. Your dad's pick up truck is a perfect example of what your money CAN"T buy now. Same goes for everything we need to live our lives on a daily basis.

Most government regulations certainly add cost to products and services. It costs more to run a clean factory or manufacturing plant and those additional costs are passed on to us. It's just my opinion that most of those regulations are a necessary evil, because big business cannot be trusted to police themselves. I remember driving back to NY from Florida in 1972. As we came through New Jersey, we could feel the air get "thicker" for lack of a better word. As we entered the Holland Tunnel to NY, we could see a thick cloud of pollution hanging over NYC. We never really noticed it ntil we left and then, returned.

The foundation of all of the issues we face today can be retraced to corporate greed. There's not enough space here nor do I have enough knowledge of economics to back that statement up. I haven't reviewed any data either, so this is my best guess, for what it's worth. Every single company that left the US for China, Mexico, Viet Nam or wherever did so for one singular reason; Cheap Labor and the failure of our own government to protect American workers by allowing it to happen. How they could have prevented this exodus is a discussion for another time. I hate to say this but tariffs are the most effective method of protecting American labor...he's just doing it the wrong way. I think they might have presented it as an opportunity to bring affordable products back to the American market. Sounds good, until you consider the possibility that all those Americans who lost their jobs to this policy no longer have enough income to purchase these products.

Unions offer protection to workers who would other wise be at the mercy of corporate America. When your business philosophy values profit above all else, the working man gets hurt. Unions are not the cure all here. So much more has to happen to bring this country back to valuing the middle class and supporting the middle class. But in the meantime, unions offer us job security and a voice in the work place. Unions force companies to do better. It's my opinion that this company and most of the other LTL companies CAN afford to give us the exact same benefits received by those who came before us.They just don't want to. It hurts their profits.

Here’s the problem as I see it, in selling it to us. We can all go read the other company’s pages here. It sure seems like the union is spooning the company. Abf, company installed driver facing cameras, union said you can’t, company says go pound sand. Issues at Holland, yrc, and every other union company. Granted, I know the problems are not system wide. Just like the issues here are not company wide. But honestly, when is the last time the union actually stood up to a company? Ups freight, they scared them into voting yes. Same as yrc. It sure seems like the union has no stomach to push for a no vote, and strike. I understand there is a high degree of voter apathy as well, which I don’t understand at all. So other than better health care and maybe a retirement plan, what’s the benefit?

 

[ABF381]

Here’s the problem as I see it, in selling it to us. We can all go read the other company’s pages here. It sure seems like the union is spooning the company. Abf, company installed driver facing cameras, union said you can’t, company says go pound sand. Issues at Holland, yrc, and every other union company. Granted, I know the problems are not system wide. Just like the issues here are not company wide. But honestly, when is the last time the union actually stood up to a company? Ups freight, they scared them into voting yes. Same as yrc. It sure seems like the union has no stomach to push for a no vote, and strike. I understand there is a high degree of voter apathy as well, which I don’t understand at all. So other than better health care and maybe a retirement plan, what’s the benefit?

I work for ABF and the inward facing cameras are still covered. The union so far is holding strong. We will see although they have been covered for a couple of months now.

 

[Hollywoodz]

Here’s the problem as I see it, in selling it to us. We can all go read the other company’s pages here. It sure seems like the union is spooning the company. Abf, company installed driver facing cameras, union said you can’t, company says go pound sand. Issues at Holland, yrc, and every other union company. Granted, I know the problems are not system wide. Just like the issues here are not company wide. But honestly, when is the last time the union actually stood up to a company? Ups freight, they scared them into voting yes. Same as yrc. It sure seems like the union has no stomach to push for a no vote, and strike. I understand there is a high degree of voter apathy as well, which I don’t understand at all. So other than better health care and maybe a retirement plan, what’s the benefit?

This is bottom line as best as I can say it. What you have posted has a ring of truth. Take YRC out of the conversation. Any union is only as strong as its membership. Despite the apparent "cave in" in recent negotiations, union companies still enjoy benefits we can only dream of. Health Care and Retirement alone should be enough of a benefit to cause at least a buzz around the possibility of unionization. My opinion is that the grievance and arbitration process is worth its weight in gold...for those who may need it. Considering the direction this company is going with their disciplinary changes, many of us are gong to need it. Open door policy usually results in a kangaroo court.

If you pay attention to the news lately, there have been dozens of strikes from teachers and other unions that have been successful. And the real bottom line is that the Teamsters are at their weakest point in their history, however, I believe 2019 will prove to be a turning point with respect to other organizing efforts. Companies are ratifying new contracts all the time. IF WE ARE ABLE TO EXPAND MEMBERSHIP IN THE FREIGHT DIVISION, WE WILL BE AS STRONG AS EVER. If not, who knows. Keep in mind , 80% of all goods sold in this country arrive by truck. If we stood together, there would be no need for a strike. Just the suggestion would bring them ALL to their knees.