Why won't we let Teamsters Pensions fail

originally posted by: olaru12
a reply to: JAGStorm

I know it's your thread but my rant wasn't really directed at you specifically. It was directed at mainly the complainer, fingerpointing, crybabies that inhabit ATS like a strain of nasty flu. Meme depositing intellectual cripples just trying to make points, stars and flags with inane clickbait topics, no conversation or discourse, one liner bull sh!t. Your thread isn't like this at all and I've enjoyed it!!

Ok, thanks for clarification. I'm at home with a hurt back, so a little grumpy today

a reply to: carewemust

No.
Why?
Pension funds are supposed to be private.
Hell, even public pensions a tent the same level of safety as Social Security.

originally posted by: DontTreadOnMe
a reply to: carewemust

No.
Why?
Pension funds are supposed to be private.
Hell, even public pensions a tent the same level of safety as Social Security.

Eric Cartman - " Whateva ! " .

a reply to: JAGStorm

I agree with you 100% and I'm a former Teamster who worked for nearly 31 years at United Parcel Service.

I retired back in 2016 and worked my tail off, putting in sometimes 12 hours a day, as a driver for 6 years, then loading trucks for nearly 25 years on the midnight shift. A lot of wear and tear to my body, which resulted in two disc herniations back in 1999, which caused me much pain over the last 17 years of my career. The only thing that motivated me to endure the pain and physical hardships, was the promise of a nice pension after I retired. Our local union president and business agents would always mention how great our pensions were and how lucky we were to be a Teamster...yeah right.

To make a long story short, my pension was reduced in 2017 by 29%. The Teamsters mainly blamed it on the market losses in 2008 and the loss of a number of participating trucking companies through consolidation or bankruptcy. This caused our multiemployer pension plan to reach "critical status" which resulted in drastic pension cuts.

Many Teamster members also blamed the union for making poor decisions managing the fund, which resulted in a huge loss after the 2008 market crash. Regardless of the reason, the pension cut has hurt me financially, but at least I made sound investments and my wife still works at a local college. My late father told me to never make plans for something that might not happen, because life will always throw you a curve ball. I prepared for that "curve ball," because you have to prepare for the unexpected. You just can't expect others to help you out when the # hits the fan.

originally posted by: shawmanfromny
a reply to: JAGStorm

I agree with you 100% and I'm a former Teamster who worked for nearly 31 years at United Parcel Service.

I retired back in 2016 and worked my tail off, putting in sometimes 12 hours a day, as a driver for 6 years, then loading trucks for nearly 25 years on the midnight shift. A lot of wear and tear to my body, which resulted in two disc herniations back in 1999, which caused me much pain over the last 17 years of my career. The only thing that motivated me to endure the pain and physical hardships, was the promise of a nice pension after I retired. Our local union president and business agents would always mention how great our pensions were and how lucky we were to be a Teamster...yeah right.

To make a long story short, my pension was reduced in 2017 by 29%. The Teamsters mainly blamed it on the market losses in 2008 and the loss of a number of participating trucking companies through consolidation or bankruptcy. This caused our multiemployer pension plan to reach "critical status" which resulted in drastic pension cuts.

Many Teamster members also blamed the union for making poor decisions managing the fund, which resulted in a huge loss after the 2008 market crash. Regardless of the reason, the pension cut has hurt me financially, but at least I made sound investments and my wife still works at a local college. My late father told me to never make plans for something that might not happen, because life will always throw you a curve ball. I prepared for that "curve ball," because you have to prepare for the unexpected. You just can't expect others to help you out when the # hits the fan.

In my union, we are starting to see some cracks develop. We are actively staying on top of it to stop it. There is a big political split in the brotherhood. We also have backups in place, which for my sake , will work out just in case.

a reply to: shawmanfromny

Where I work made really bad decisions with investments, and to make up for it they double downed on high risk investments and lost again, and then did it again. I do not think the tax payers should be bailing them out though.

a reply to: Liquesence

And you can be equally trained and equally skilled with $40k in loans. My professors taught at Harvard, BC, and BU ... only my education cost about 10% of my friends who went to those schools. So why exactly do you need to be $300k in debt?