I'm not a super outspoken union supporter - I think they have done massive good, as well as some harm... but this is just ridiculous. How can we, as one of the most wealthy countries in the world, not keep our promises to our workers? I know this isn't a government pension... but still - how can companies get away with this?I know I'm not the first person to be upset by this... but for crying out loud - we're severely screwed. blergh. How many retired people you do you know who can afford a 20-30% cut in their monthly income?
That's not the way it works. 1) The pension says "give us your employer contributions. We'll take that money and invest it so that when it's time for you to retire we can pay you out a defined benefit." 2) The investment bank says "I know you promised these employees that money but our projections were based on a 7% increase per year and the market has been at 3% for the past six years so now we have a shortfall." 3) The employers say "I know you have a pension shortfall but we didn't cause it. Besides, you're already 50% more expensive than scabs. You can choose - lower your rates or lower your contributions." 4) The unions say "we can take a massive hit on what we provide or we can declare insolvency. You choose." When I started in this industry nearly nothing was union. Ten years later almost everything is. What happened? the IATSE pension fund discovered it was going to go tits up so it started chasing productions like Dog the Bounty Hunter. Did our rates go up? Hell to the naah. IATSE basically told everyone that if they contributed to the pension fund they wouldn't fight them on rate. So it's easier to get your hours but it's harder to pay your rent. Meanwhile the guys who worked with Michael Landon get to retire and bask in that summer glow of beautiful pension money while people like me get the happygrams from IATSE that say things like "so here's what happens when we run out of money." And look - this is the teamsters we're talking about. They drive and load UPS and the like. Amazon? Amazon hires day players to drop your shit off in their own cars for $9 an hour. Are you going to stop using Amazon? I'm not. I use Lyft. It costs hella less than taxis and provides no security whatsoever to its drivers. I got my own blood on my own hands and I know it. "cutting the fat" is also "a pound of flesh." How 'bout all those guys who piled their 401(k)s into Enron? Every supervillain origin story starts with an injury.
I expect to get nothing from my pension. I'm 20-35 years out looking at it: no fucking way it lasts that long as shit stands the way it does. Between those two, at the outset, Amazon actually pays their loaders better. Out here, it is $12 full time at Amazon vs $10.20 part time at UPS. Not sure how much the Amazon pay rates change by location, the UPS rates are across the board due to being laid out in their national contract. I had to look at job postings to check the amazon pay. I forgot how much I hate hr speak. Cozy kicks a must!: you'll be on your feet all goddamned day.4) The unions say "we can take a massive hit on what we provide or we can declare insolvency. You choose."
And look - this is the teamsters we're talking about. They drive and load UPS and the like. Amazon? Amazon hires day players to drop your shit off in their own cars for $9 an hour. Are you going to stop using Amazon? I'm not. I use Lyft. It costs hella less than taxis and provides no security whatsoever to its drivers.
I don't really either. It's one of three different solutions I have for covering my dotage. I'm crazy lucky. And realistically speaking, there's no way in hell I can handle living a thousand miles away from my family 4-6 months a year for the next flipping 17 years minimum. And I'll bet Amazon pays better for warehouse - but for Amazon Flex I've heard it's hot bullshit. It certainly seems as if nobody is being paid well. The people I've talked to who have done it have given up in less than a week.
The problem with the Amazon Flex program from what I hear is the inability to get work assigned. Otherwise it's supposed to pay pretty well at 20 - 25 dollars per hour. But that's before gas and depreciation.
I know... I was just doing this:That's not the way it works.
We can't keep promises because we over promised and under invested in our future. The boomers in agragete spent all the money they should have been saving and investing then wrote themselves iou's that they expected their kids and grandkids to pay. Well there just isn't enough wealth to go around so cuts must be made. Did they get bamboozled by 7% Wall Street projections and poor investment (CALPERS)? Sure but they also looked the other way when companies outsourced everything under the sun in the name of shareholder value.