An open letter to the Snowflakes

[other dog]

22 hours ago, 1958 F.W.D. said:

Unions are WONDERFUL.

Fact: Just ask any ex-employee (who was vested in their pension for 20 or more) of Bethlehem Steel. They will tell you how wonderful their union is. Errrr ahhh I mean was.

If you'd like more factual information I live 10 minutes from (what used to be) Bethlehem Steel's flagship operation in Bethlehem Pa. The Crown Jewel of the largest steel empire in the world. An industrial juggernaut along the Lehigh River that is now a Sands Casino. And a shopping mall. And other dumbassery. What little is left of the steel mill is slowly rotting into oblivion. Let me know if you'd like more facts, I will take pictures. You can also talk to the plethora of my elderly neighbors who were anally raped of their pensions by the Union.

As i've mentioned before, I have pretty much no use for unions. As we all learned in school-right? unions were much needed in the early days, because before unions any company or business could literally treat their employees any way they wanted to- "if you don't like it,leave!"

Then, as time marched on unions became more powerful-bigger,stronger, faster- until the unions could pretty much treat the company or business any way they wanted to- "we want more and more and more for doing less and less and less!"

I mentioned U.S. Steel on here the other day, i've said how they quit loading me at Copperweld Steel in Warren ,Ohio 30 minutes before the shift ended when they had one more lift to load because "it's in their contract", when i'd been there all evening and half the night already. Union greed put them out of business, and when you see a sad story on TV or in the paper about "the rust belt", and how all the jobs are gone, I find it hard to feel any sympathy when I pass the old Copperweld mill and see weeds covering everything and buildings falling down- because they did it to themselves!..and they treated truck drivers like assholes too.

And i've got this set of books called "The Trucking Pioneers" -

...and I made a list of these trucking companies that are now out of business all or at least partly because of union strikes against them.

...and while I was doing all this, my shed burned down, and almost the house-

 

 

[hatcity]

what da hell you doin' over there OD?

[ranchhopper]

I never had any use for the union either you can see how they "work" here in Illinois going down any state highway and watching state union employees all hard at work sitting in the trucks on the side of the road all day. I see those same state employees parked in front of the local restaurant in the  morning after getting to work punching in and on the clock state trucks sitting in the parking lot instead of going to breakfast BEFORE work on the taxpayer dime. My experience is here in Illinois is the union motto less work for more money is still going strong they breed laziness now and trying to reason with a good union employee is like trying to reason with a faithful Hillary voter oh wait silly me they are one in the same. I have always said there is something wrong when a company has to be literally forced into union bondage I work for a company family owned very generous with raises, holiday pay,christmas parties and gifts seems like the way things should be you work hard for them you are rewarded. Also I have a real problem with companies being forced to keep lazy ass employees by the union which are a drain on the company and breed bad blood between good employees having to take up the slack for their lazy ass and through the years I have seen a lot of that.  

[HeavyGunner]

19 hours ago, TeamsterGrrrl said:

You have two options: Stay non union and work 'til you die with starvation wages and no benefits. Or join a union and earn decent wages, benefits, health care, vacations, and retirement. Your choice...

I'm not union and I'm not starving. I have a company matched 401k plus a pension plus an excellent medical plan. I also put 7% into a Roth IRA to supplement my future retirement since we know Social Security is effed. 

[HeavyGunner]

Sorry to see your shed and house gets burned. Glad it's not any worse and hopefully everyone is ok. 

[other dog]

23 minutes ago, hatcity said:

what da hell you doin' over there OD?

I'm an idiot- but it could have been worse- much worse. I was spraying the vinyl siding with the garden hose until the Gladys Volunteer Fire Dept. got here, hoping it wouldn't ignite. I was about to lose the battle when they got here. I had several cans of gas in there, oil, hydraulic fluid, spray paint, my new leaf blower, several chain saws...

 

[carlotpilot]

16 minutes ago, other dog said:

I'm an idiot- but it could have been worse- much worse. I was spraying the vinyl siding with the garden hose until the Gladys Volunteer Fire Dept. got here, hoping it wouldn't ignite. I was about to lose the battle when they got here. I had several cans of gas in there, oil, hydraulic fluid, spray paint, my new leaf blower, several chain saws...

 

getting to damn close any idea what started the fire?

[HarryS]

Holy s--t, glad the Glayds FD showed up when they did. The only good news is, it could have been worse.

[Outbehindthebarn]

It has been widely noted that 'identity politics' played a significant role in Trump winning the election... apparently you didn't get the memo. 

The phrase "Hypocrite Par Excellence" comes to mind here. Pray tell, how did you personally 'fight' for your pension? If you 'fought' for a pension that would allow you to be retired at 55, then like it or not, you fought to put downward pressure on the wages of the generation following you. 

Do you really believe people who choose to be free from the union are suckers? It is a well-known fact that ingenuity and 'progress' are usually the result of independent thought. I realize that protections exist for the duller sorts of individuals who are little more than 'steering wheel holders', but to come on a site like BMT and harass a community of individualists who hold values that clearly do not line up with yours is, well, . . . the sort of thing only a woman would do. Sorry.

Do you think it is reasonable, no, 'responsible' to be able-bodied and retired at 55 as a hourly worker? 

The gall of the Left routinely leaves me flabbergasted.  

Oh wait, disregard everything I just posted.... Its all garbage due to my cis-male white privileged view of reality......

[BillyT]

Teamster Grrrl ,ADMIT that  The Twinkie I bought was smaller than they used to be as a result of your pension😁

[grayhair]

On January 10, 2012, Hostess Brands filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time. In its filing, the company said it "is not competitive, primarily due to legacy pension and medical benefit obligations and restrictive work rules". According to Hostess, it employed 19,000 people and was more than $860 million in debt. The company said it would continue to operate with $75 million of debtor-in-possession financing from Monarch Alternative Capital, Silver Point Capital and other investors.^[5]

[41chevy]

1 hour ago, grayhair said:

On January 10, 2012, Hostess Brands filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time. In its filing, the company said it "is not competitive, primarily due to legacy pension and medical benefit obligations and restrictive work rules". According to Hostess, it employed 19,000 people and was more than $860 million in debt. The company said it would continue to operate with $75 million of debtor-in-possession financing from Monarch Alternative Capital, Silver Point Capital and other investors.^[5]

And the American Standard debacle.

On 11/24/2016 at 0:19 PM, other dog said:

I'm an idiot- but it could have been worse- much worse. I was spraying the vinyl siding with the garden hose until the Gladys Volunteer Fire Dept. got here, hoping it wouldn't ignite. I was about to lose the battle when they got here. I had several cans of gas in there, oil, hydraulic fluid, spray paint, my new leaf blower, several chain saws...

 

 Alas I believe it was my fault, I sent my squatters over for some hot sauce and they came home smelling like smoke and no hot sauce. 

Edited November 25, 2016 by 41chevy

[j hancock]

Maybe they were trying to cook Twinkies in OD's smoker oven?

[david wild]

Glad you did not lose your home.

[david wild]

So let's see, our drivers start at $75,000, and that is because the union sets the wage base. NO, it's because we expect our people to work, and that is why they earn a good wage. Personally never seen a union heavy haul company. I don't think they could take the pressure. Seems they need to take lots of breaks and talk a lot about how hard they work. Less talk, more do, that is what gets you ahead. Unions have ruined more good companies than they have ever helped. In fact, the company's health does not matter to them, just how much money they can suck out before it goes bankrupt. So oh yes, unions are "really" good. NOT.   

[gearhead204]

On 11/25/2016 at 0:29 AM, other dog said:

As i've mentioned before, I have pretty much no use for unions. As we all learned in school-right? unions were much needed in the early days, because before unions any company or business could literally treat their employees any way they wanted to- "if you don't like it,leave!"

Then, as time marched on unions became more powerful-bigger,stronger, faster- until the unions could pretty much treat the company or business any way they wanted to- "we want more and more and more for doing less and less and less!"

I mentioned U.S. Steel on here the other day, i've said how they quit loading me at Copperweld Steel in Warren ,Ohio 30 minutes before the shift ended when they had one more lift to load because "it's in their contract", when i'd been there all evening and half the night already. Union greed put them out of business, and when you see a sad story on TV or in the paper about "the rust belt", and how all the jobs are gone, I find it hard to feel any sympathy when I pass the old Copperweld mill and see weeds covering everything and buildings falling down- because they did it to themselves!..and they treated truck drivers like assholes too.

And i've got this set of books called "The Trucking Pioneers" -

...and I made a list of these trucking companies that are now out of business all or at least partly because of union strikes against them.

...and while I was doing all this, my shed burned down, and almost the house-

Damn, glad your ok! sorry about the loss of personal property......guess you have a new winters project ahead of you. now for the next 3 years you will keep remembering all the other things you lost that you forgot to inventory for the insurance claim....( hope you have insurance)    

[Mcrafty1]

On 11/23/2016 at 0:25 PM, TeamsterGrrrl said:

OK, so what wholesale baker did I bankrupt?

Hostess was one of them......

....I guess I was a little late with this comment... but I stand by it just the same.

 

 

 

 

[41chevy]

“Stanford Institute's PensionTracker  (  http://www.pensiontracker.org/  )  listing local agencies, and data for every state. California ranked seventh highest nationwide for debt-per-household when viewed through rose-colored glasses ($22,210); and third-highest in the nation when viewed through skeptic’s glasses ($74,661).

“I was a little surprised that the unfunded amount per household is as high as it is,” said Joe Nation, public policy professor at Stanford and director of the data project. All told, California’s public service unions (SEIU, CTA )   pension systems are $281.5 billion short, including pension bond debt. Through Mr Nation’s lens, they’re nearly $1 trillion in the hole – or $946.4 billion.” (Joe Nation PhD, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research)

Police, firefighter and teachers unions in California do the most damage at the local level. They have attained unsustainable pensions, known as “3%@50”, meaning that a member of that bargaining unit is eligible at age 50 for a pension equivalent to 3% of his highest salary times their number of years of service. At age 50, a 20-year veteran can retire with a pension equivalent to 60% of their highest year’s salary, which can be manipulated through spiking, and a 30-year veteran is eligible for 90% of his or her highest salary.  These pension requirements are held under the “California Rule” to be irreversible. In other words, once they have been adopted, democracy is incapable of turning off the spigot. With the spigot running constantly, communities go bankrupt. First, they cut other services. Then they increase taxes. Then they refuse to pay bondholders, so no one will invest again.

 

Edited November 27, 2016 by 41chevy

[other dog]

16 hours ago, david wild said:

So let's see, our drivers start at $75,000, and that is because the union sets the wage base. NO, it's because we expect our people to work, and that is why they earn a good wage. Personally never seen a union heavy haul company. I don't think they could take the pressure. Seems they need to take lots of breaks and talk a lot about how hard they work. Less talk, more do, that is what gets you ahead. Unions have ruined more good companies than they have ever helped. In fact, the company's health does not matter to them, just how much money they can suck out before it goes bankrupt. So oh yes, unions are "really" good. NOT.   

I agree 100%!

[1958 F.W.D.]

On 11/24/2016 at 0:37 PM, carlotpilot said:

getting to damn close any idea what started the fire?

Too much heat in one spot 

[Underdog]

Too much heat in one spot 

This from a professional fire brigadier.

[carlotpilot]

1 hour ago, 1958 F.W.D. said:

Too much heat in one spot 

thaaaatsa possibility

[Keith Pommerening]

UPS seems to be the golden standard when it comes to union pensions.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't UPS pay something in the neighborhood of 3 billion dollars to the Teamsters so they could avoid paying for other company union obligations.  Something to do with "Last man standing" making-up bankrupt companies obligations for union pensions.  Seems only ones foolish enough to believe in union, any more, are government entities.  Looks like only purpose of unions anymore is to fund the also dying democrat party.

 

[TeamsterGrrrl]

10 hours ago, Mcrafty1 said:

Hostess was one of them......

....I guess I was a little late with this comment... but I stand by it just the same.

Hostess' last contribution to my pension was in 1998, they were profitable then. Hostess didn't pay into any pensions for their last year of operation, and still couldn't make money. Hostess went bankrupt partly due to foreign competition and partly due to poor management. Hostess unionized competitors like Bimbo, US Bakeries, Lakeland, etc. paid the same pension contributions and are still in business.

 

 

 

 

 

[eddeere]

As a supervisor in a company with a union the union was rarely needed. Any problem was usually worked out on the spot. Most problems were mostly gripes once the employee got it off their chest work went on. The union steward was seldom involved. THEN the older employees started retiring and a new group of younger employees started taking their place. That is when things started to change for the worst. Jobs were too hot, hard, unsafe, or not my job for this group. In the old days everyone worked together. For the new group they seemed to work against each other.  Finally I was able to retire.