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Heck, I was bragging on him for being successful. Pull that lip in.

Happy New Year!

 

I have enough income to live well without the driving job.I retired from yellow freight in 1995, have a good pension, have a great retirement fund,

See what happens when you have a good UNION job

 

Pensions are great no doubt about it. Provided the carrier does not fold up at a later date or declare bankruptcy and eliminate alot of the previously agreed upon bennies. I believe that is what has happened to alot of the retired auto workers. Not sure what the end result was for the Consolidated Freightways retired workers.

 

Yep, you can rent a truck, pretend you are an owner operator and see the country for free while you drive for nothing. You know that you are taking someone else job by renting that truck. Isn't that against the union mantra?

 

These unions and their unreasonable pensions are bankrupting industry. It makes no sense if you have a great pension if it bankrupts the company. If the pension is uncollectable it doesn't make any difference how good it seems at the time. I would much rather handle my own pension where I am not dependent on the solvency of a company or the ethics of a union managed pension fund.

 

When pensions were the vogue for retirement income, 401k's didn't exist - and the funding mechanisms for pension plans were a good way for a company to offset those costs to the future. While I don't like unions myself, at one time it was the only way for working men and women to actually get a fair shake from employers.

Take a look at it from the outside - yeah, things do change.

 

I have heard the argument about unions being so good in the beginning. Since I wasn't around during that time I would just need to speculate. I know the pro union people like to take credit for all the good things that employees receive from employers, whether the companies are union or not. We have never really had strong unions in much of the country. The South has pretty much been anti union. Yet, our standard of living is as high or higher than those areas where unions are strong. Wages may be a little lower in some cases, but so are taxes and most other costs of living. I don't see that unions really help. They do increase the cost of living in those areas where there is a strong union presence. When wages go up the cost of everything else goes up. It is called a cause and effect. It also fuels inflation.

I think that the reason the South, in particular, has shunned unions is that there is more of an independent mindset in the South. We have been more accustomed to taking care of ourselves and our families. Many who settled in the strong union states come from countries where there are strong government controls and socialism is rampant. Their history is that of a union or government taking care of them rather than taking responsibility for themselves.

During the turn of the 20th century there were probably some inequities with some businesses. I don't think that it was most businesses. I know that was the reason given when the unions were trying to organize Ford Motor Company. Henry Ford fought the unions and ultimately lost the battle. Whether the unions helped or not is subjective. I think most business owners treated employees well, without the drawback of having to join a union. If that were not the case most people would belong to a union.

One thing that unions have done to this country is fuel socialism. There is an attitude of entitlement that I have observed from those who belong to unions. That has wormed it's way into our government and down to much of our population. The result has been more and more people wanting more and more from the government and there are fewer and fewer of us to pay the bill. That is why unions are failing and it is the reason our government is failing. When unions started getting involved in our government, the end was in sight. Unless people change their mindset or attitudes our days as a country are limited.

 

Go find a copy of "Sweatshops On Wheels" by Michael Belzer for an academic treatise on the effects that labor unions and deregulation
have had on the trucking industry.

It's probably too dense of a read for someone who seems to have their entire world-view delivered by Fox's cheerleaders for the corporate oligarchy, but if you can actually comprehend something written at a higher than 8th grade level you might gain a little insight.

I'm not going to waste my time trying to convince you that the failure of a company may be due to the greed and incompetence of its management, not because the employees were represented by a union (I don't think Enron's employees were union, nor Lehman Bros. for that matter) or that our government is not failing the wealthy (Who are the ones leading the cheers against unions and any form of regulation while increasing their share of national income and wealth to levels not seen since the 1920's) only the poor and middle class.

"Trucking Country" by Shane Hamilton is another good read.

 

I am not on one side of this debate or the other but just because a guy writes a book and gets it published doesn't make him right, it is only his opinion. As the media industry has proven, give them a fact and they'll spin it to their way of thinking.

 

I appreciate the reading recommendation, but I have first hand experience both before and after deregulation. I don't need to have someone with an ax to grind, to interpret what I experienced. I can do that for myself.

There is no need to concern yourself about my level of reading comprehension. I managed to get through 18 years of school and did a lot of reading, well beyond the 8th grade level. But, if you are more comfortable with an 8th grade text, then go for it. I don't believe in putting people down for their life choices.

I agree that many business failures are due to poor management decisions. Some made the mistake of allowing unions to take over their business. Enron had interests in oil and utilities. Many of those employees were union, but I don't think that is the reason those businesses failed. Lehman Brothers probably didn't have union employees. Both of these companies were supposed to have more government oversight. Most government employees are union and it was partly their failure to do their jobs that allowed failures such as Enron and Lehman Brothers to happen.

It isn't just the wealthy who dislike unions. Apparently, most of America dislikes unions. Otherwise, most people would belong to a union. We have greed and corruption throughout our government as well as some companies and unions. I find it interesting that unions will whine about corporate greed while they threaten a strike for huge increases in pay and benefits.

Actually, it is the poor who have been making out pretty well with the government. They pay little to nothing yet receive most of the benefits of our society. Regardless of station in life, greed can be at any level. I find more of an attitude of entitlement with many of the poor than the rich. Talk about greed. I really don't understand all the envy of those who are rich. You assume that just because someone is rich that they must be crooked.