Union jobs

Don't ever rely on a pension. It's not your money, you lose it if the fund becomes insolvent (Enron, anybody?), you have no control over how it's invested (and thus no control over its risk exposure or rate of return), and it does not pass to your heirs when you die. And, im this day and age, it's outmoded.

Do your own retirement investing in a 401(k) and an IRA, which are your assets and over which you have control.

 

With regard to unions, if you think you need a union then what you really need is a better employer.

The only thing unions are good for anymore is developing skilled tradesmen via the apprenticeship system.

 

Part of the problem facing unions today is most of the benefits they had years ago are now into laws that everyone has advantage of now.

 

More proof that unions have outlived their usefulness.

 

All very good points.
What I have noticed over the years, there is a certain segment of the union membership that believes that if unions disappeared, the laws enacted decades ago, that are now commonplace would also disappear.
Those same people believe since lives were lost over the years fighting for change, unions should be granted elite status in society. And thus current union members should in perpetuity be considered a notch or two above the common citizen.

 

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A shipyard worker who set fire to rags aboard a nuclear submarine because he wanted to go home was sentenced to a little more than 17 years in federal prison Friday for the blaze that transformed the vessel into a fiery furnace, injured seven people and caused $450 million in damage.
Man who set fire to nuclear submarine gets 17 years

All because he wanted to go home!

There is so much fraud, waste, and abuse of money in unions that they aren’t worth the fuss any more.

I’ll proudly work for $3 less an hour than my union counterpart who pays more than that in dues. Dues that pays for a pension that may not be there and lines the pockets of union leaders that have never worked as a laborer in their union a day of their life.

 

Not sure where you got the idea that union dues cost $3 bucks an hour. Every union is different of course but my particular union charges only $18 bucks a month for dues. It goes to pay the salaries of the union organizers in the office as well as pay the water/electric bills of the building which is 100% paid off from the same union dues which used to be higher prior to the 1990's til the building was paid off. We had a union meeting back then and voted to lower the union dues down to a figure that paid all the bills and put a little in the local's bank account. The bank account has over $1 million in it. That money belongs to every member of the union and not a cent of it gets spent without a vote by the members. Various entities write letters to the union every month asking for donations which are voted on by members. We do a ton of good works with that money to advance union causes.

Also, I wouldn't be pinning one disgruntled worker's actions who wanted to go home as the defining perceived problem as your argument against unionism in this country lol. The bottom line is you don't like unions because you have been programmed and indoctrinated to believe that way by the Man.

 

Exactly correct! My monies have been put into my IRA and 401K for years. I say where it goes, I control what is done with it. I’ve ridden out bad times and have enjoyed good times. I lost $60K in the last market adjustment last year when the pandemic hit, since then it’s come back 3 fold, all because I made a few adjustments. I’ve been saving for retirement the last 35 years on my doings, not a pension plan. My retirement is in place and has been the last 8 years. It doesn’t take a math degree or a world of smarts to see it, if this truck driver can do it with my limited knowledge, anyone can.

I’m not going to get into the union debate, for 40 years I’ve been called a scab. Why? Because I decided 40 years ago to do it alone, and now when I hear how good some of the brotherhood has it, I just smile.

 

Not quite,,,union can squander the money,,lose it in bad investments which only line the pockets of union bosses.
I have company pension(non union) and i have complete control of the investments as well as choosing the funds. My employer goes bankrupt my pension is still intact.
Keep in mind trucking companies are usually comprised of a few companies.

 

ignored due to being in a union.