Also keep on eye on Yellow Freight as they're teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, mostly over Teamster pension fund demands. Yellow comprises approximately 9% of total LTL, or less than truckload, freight capacity. It will take some time for other LTL carriers to absorb this if Yellow shuts down. Thousands of people will lose their jobs, many with 20+ years seniority. https://www.freightwaves.com/news/the-data-to-watch-if-yellow-shuts-down I've watched more than one large union trucking company close their doors over the past 30 years. Some couldn't afford to upgrade equipment due to payroll eating up too much revenue. This usually results in higher maintenance costs as equipment ages. Deregulation played a part as well.
I am front and center on this little fracas. While I don't have 20yrs I'm coming up on eight. The 72 hr strike notice was issued after the co(yellow) failed to make the required payment for our health insurance and the pension. They have consistently tried to squeeze labor and have had the benefit of a 10% wage cut in 2008 and another 5% wage cut in 2010 that equates to over a billion dollars then they took a 700 million dollar government loan during covid. They recently sold a terminal in Compton, Ca for $80 millions dollars. All I can see is they are masters at making cash disappear. Where did it go? Who knows but I will tell you this, as a Teamster, we will be on strike on Sunday night at twelve o one if the promised benefits aren't funded. We are the lowest paid ltl in our market and I came to this co because of the benefits and health insurance. They have been funding the pension on a four to get one and that is unacceptable. These are what they agreed to and we kept working as necessary employees just like ups did during the pandemic. We elected O Brien to fix this lack of respect for labor and as I see it he is doing what we elected him to do. You can bash the union all you want but If you like your week end, thank the union. In life you don't get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate.
My problem with the teamsters is that many have 2 pension systems. One for the drivers, and one for the union big wigs. Many drivers funds have been way underfunded. The US Gov recently bailed out one fund to the tune of 36 BILLION dollars. If the company I worked for pension fund defaulted it would go the the Pension benefit program and I would only get a reduced amount. Taxpayer $ should not bail out ANY pension funds.
Thanks for your reply from the Teamster side of the story. My father was the AFL-CIO local 210 President for several years during the 60's.One of his redeeming qualities was being good at negotiating without taking job action. I'm not taking a position on this matter. I remember those wage cuts you mentioned. Unfortunately they were likely the result of non union LTL carriers taking away business with lower freight rates. It's much the same in TL trucking as well. Don't wish to see anyone lose their jobs. Hopefully cooler heads and sanity will prevail with a settlement over the weekend. I just read this article: https://www.thetrucker.com/trucking...tFRrgk6bGL2ogA_XPf54mVy-PSuwtcTZCYJB24WV7fePM
ABSOLUTELY !!! . They made sure WE paid for the rich folks that lost money in the stock market a few years back .
If ups just dropped off the face of the earth we would all be so much better off! The company obviously only cares about 1 thing and it ain't you or I. Why company's and people support such a business is beyond me. There nothing but a bunch of crooks! Keith
I never understood how a company can sell you insurance on their service and then be the one who declines your claim based on their determination of who's fault the issue was. Seems like something the Mafia would do.
I certainly don't have "sour grapes" over someone else making good money. I did read the article that Tom B linked. I don't know which side is correct, but people my age may remember the Eastern Airlines Mechanic's strike. Eastern said that it couldn't meet the mechanic's financial demands. The mechanics went on strike anyways and found that Eastern was telling the truth, and went out of business. I am not anti-union (I was a union member for 23 years), but before setting up the picket lines it is wise to ascertain that the company is financially capable of meeting union demands. In the same vein, I also remember when Chrysler hit bottom, Lee Iacocca told the UAW that he had 30,000 jobs at $16 an hour and none at $20. He then offered to let the union check the books. The UAW settled for $16 until business improved - which it did.
Two thoughts on this: First, my late father in law was VP of the GCIU (graphics communication international) and he died on the job about 20 years ago. Due to his career working with a union that merged more than once, he had more than one pension that paid his widow. Every one of them got cut or reduced over those years, so the bigwigs took haircuts, too. Second, when unions, from the ‘60s to the ‘80s, negotiated for lifetime health and pension benefits, retirees didn’t live to be 85 or 95 and have triple and quadruple bypass surgery, cancer treatments and other terribly expensive procedures AND live ten or twenty years after that. When GM agreed to that in the 70s, they figured the average Joe would need a couple pair of glasses, maybe a knee, maybe hearing aids, then he’d croak from a heart attack at 72. (Not survive that attack and live long enough to get Alzheimers or cancer). I don’t doubt there’s a lot of fat and likely some grift in union management, and I think (like with social security) if a worker paid in he should get his promised benefit, but actuarial tables and the number of workers are headwinds that need to be addressed (with SS, too). In my FIL’s case, there’s nowhere near the number of workers in print shops or press rooms than there were twenty years ago. That’s not the union’s fault, the industry changed. I believe a strong middle class is necessary for a succesful country, and unions empower workers to properly value their labor. We have a widening gap between workers and owners now, and to a certain extent we did it to ourselves. We as comsumers chose cheap **** from WalMart over better made products from our local stores, owned and run by our neighbors who employed our community and sold goods made here by the mills and factories in our states. We chose cheap towels and shoes and tools. Now those better products are gone, as are the stores and the mills and factories. Corporate America did a good job of pushing NAFTA and fighting unions both in public opinion and in house. Don’t blame the unions, blame the customers and the corporations. (And maybe the government-if we made it as costly to import chinese and other goods as it is to make them here, there might be less offshoring. We need to worry about OUR middle class, not pay other countries, some our enemies, to build theirs.) Patrick
No joke. 100K per year might as well be $1 per year if I am working 100 hrs per week. Remember life can suck no matter how much you make.
My old boss's brother married into the UPS family. Got a divorce some years back from a spoiled great granddaughter of the founder. Attorney presented evidence that they comingled their funds while married. Pre-nup byby-oooo. I think he is sitting pretty well now. Union money pffft... go straight to the source.
Time has infinite value. It can't be bought or traded. Once it's gone it's gone forever. I came to this realization about 7 years ago and since then I quit working overtime and weekends. I work to live..I don't live to work.
Just Reported . Union and UPS Management reach a Tenative agreement . . Now just a Union vote on it . Good news for my Teamster Brothers
I concur with Super bald menace. When you work in exchange for money, it's always a better deal for the employer then the employee. The employer compensates the employee with money, which can be replaced; the employee gives the employer his time, which cannot.
Happy they got their (tentative) agreement!!! The downside is WHO is going to pay for it... I see shipping prices increasing significantly over the next few months...
UPS still needs to compete with Fedex/DHL/USPS etc. Prices will probably rise. But the market does limit this too.
