Hostess

yeldarb

Well-Known Member
The pension at Hostess (teamsters) seems like the biggest holdup for their contract, and with it being part of the multi employer pension fund, how would that work? If Hostess gets their way, will that dip into my retirement to give them a pension that they have been promised? I dont understand all the pros and cons to the pension with it being multi-employer, but I dont like it. I think it should be a single employer. Do we as UPSers have any advantage to the multi-employer? It seems like all other teamsters are benefitting from the good contracts at UPS.
Secondly, Hostess is threatening to strike. Hostess is preparing to file bankruptcy a 2nd time in a decade. If a company isnt profitable, concessions SHOULD be made to make it profitable. The auto companies have given Unions a bad name by wanting more, where there isnt more to give. This has always been a fear of mine with the teamsters. Is Hostess hiding what they do have, or is the Teamsters demanding more of what the company doesnt have? I saw a segment on Hostess on the news with hall and the teamsters, and I sat a little low in my chair hoping to not be noticed.
 

menotyou

bella amicizia
Whose fault is it that Hostess hasn't made a profitable business model work in these days of healthy eating? Whose fault is it Hostess didn't keep up with the times? I love it when the company runs itself into the ground and then insists the union to make concessions, and if they don't, they lambast them in the media. In the age of Fox News and Tea Partiers, it is an easy thing to bash. Yet, when the company is flying high in a sugar rush of profits, I don't see them talking up how wonderful the Teamsters are that are making them rich.

And, just because somepublic union officials, coupled with their public counterparts who were sitting wide-eyed at the negotiation tables have negotiated TOGETHER these atrocious contracts, don't blame all teamsters. I have neverseen the Teamsters ask for more than UPS was capable and could afford to give. Please. Really?
 

UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)

Well-Known Member
The Upstate NY Teamsters Pension Plan is a multi-employer pension plan and I share your concerns. YRC is among the employers and their fiscal woes has had a dramatic effect on the fund as a whole. Our current retirees have not had their pensions altered but I do fear that my pension benefit may be affected.

The Teamsters seem to know where to draw the line in the sand. No, they are not given access to the books, but they have a good history of knowing just how much to ask for without selling their members short.

There is the very real possibility that Hostess employees could come to work someday and find the doors locked.

To be fair, the UAW has accepted concessions, most notably the two-tiered wage structure for new employees.
 

BBAK

Banned
Union jobs........

Where a guy can come in to work drunk and pull a set of doubles out of the yard and keep his job.........

Where a guy can be caught throwing a customers freight in the dumpster and keep his job.......

Where a guy can fail 3 random drug tests within a year and keep his job.....


None of these guys would have kept their jobs at non union Overnite Transportation.
 

BBAK

Banned
I forgot about the mechanic that was caught siphoning diesel fuel out of deadlined tractors and putting in his personal pickup truck that also kept his job thanks to the Machinists and Aerospace Workers Union.
 

Bubblehead

My Senior Picture
The Upstate NY Teamsters Pension Plan is a multi-employer pension plan and I share your concerns. YRC is among the employers and their fiscal woes has had a dramatic effect on the fund as a whole. Our current retirees have not had their pensions altered but I do fear that my pension benefit may be affected.

The Teamsters seem to know where to draw the line in the sand. No, they are not given access to the books, but they have a good history of knowing just how much to ask for without selling their members short.

There is the very real possibility that Hostess employees could come to work someday and find the doors locked.

To be fair, the UAW has accepted concessions, most notably the two-tiered wage structure for new employees.

Opening up the books is a very real part of contract negotiations.
This is how they know where to draw the "line in the sand".
A good portion of the financial woes being felt within most multi-employer pension funds can be linked to the instability and corruption within the stock market.
With the Enrons and Worldcoms, coupled with the banking fiasco of the last decade, pension funds have seen their investments evaporate.
While the rest of us rebound, these pension funds continue to pay out benefits and cannot realize the same recovery as an individual with a 401k.
Bottom line, it's not the Teamsters that drove these companies and pension plans into the ground.
 

UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)

Well-Known Member
I thank you for the correction---I did not realize that the union had access to the books.

You are also right about the effect that the financial crisis had on our pension funds. Ours lost 30% and is still recovering; in fact, our split raises are being diverted to the pension throughout this contract in an effort to restore the fund.

YRC's economic woes have had a dramatic effect on our pension.
 

klein

Für Meno :)
I'll tell you something, which is bugging me like crazy.

I'm working again, but the owner refuses to pay for Stat holidays, and I worked Good Friday.
My cheque is out tomorrow. I wrote down the extra OT, but my co-workers think I'll never get paid for it.
They have never been paid for it - 1 has been there for 8 years, the other for over 3 years.
I'm basically new.

But, I already fought for my right once (he was making me work 46hrs per week without paying OT) - I made a stop to that, and he was kind of mad about it and cut my hrs.

Now, I'm facing this situation. Only thing I can basically do is call the labour board, and after that call , - I might as well quit, otherwise I'll be fired, like he did the lady before me, that also called the labour board.

But, I want to fight for my co-workers, too, and if I need to quit, then so be it - but I hope in the proceeds, I get them a nice hefty back pay, and that my boss and owner gets a nice hefty fine on top of it, too.

Has to come to a stop, even if I need to sacrifice myself at it.
 

menotyou

bella amicizia
I forgot about the mechanic that was caught siphoning diesel fuel out of deadlined tractors and putting in his personal pickup truck that also kept his job thanks to the Machinists and Aerospace Workers Union.
You haven't mentioned the managers that screw people over every second of every day. They outnumber these few rotten apples a billion to one.
 

BBAK

Banned
You haven't mentioned the managers that screw people over every second of every day. They outnumber these few rotten apples a billion to one.

They screw you by making you work hard?

Why is it the most pro union employees are always the biggest lazy, worthless pieces of crap?
 
I'll tell you something, which is bugging me like crazy.

I'm working again, but the owner refuses to pay for Stat holidays, and I worked Good Friday.
My cheque is out tomorrow. I wrote down the extra OT, but my co-workers think I'll never get paid for it.
They have never been paid for it - 1 has been there for 8 years, the other for over 3 years.
I'm basically new.

But, I already fought for my right once (he was making me work 46hrs per week without paying OT) - I made a stop to that, and he was kind of mad about it and cut my hrs.

Now, I'm facing this situation. Only thing I can basically do is call the labour board, and after that call , - I might as well quit, otherwise I'll be fired, like he did the lady before me, that also called the labour board.

But, I want to fight for my co-workers, too, and if I need to quit, then so be it - but I hope in the proceeds, I get them a nice hefty back pay, and that my boss and owner gets a nice hefty fine on top of it, too.

Has to come to a stop, even if I need to sacrifice myself at it.

Wow, the guy that owns that hotdog cart sounds like a real jerk.
 
A lot of us are pro union on here. Many see it both sides though. The good and the bad. People who make comments like yours tend to be the ones who feel they aren't getting what they feel they deserve. So they hate and they're jealous.

Look at the Hostess story on any newspaper site. The comments are all full of the "greedy unions, lazy workers" type like yours and almost all come from people who have never had a union job. They see it as all benefits, wages, and protection that a union provides. They never see what must be put up with by the workers even with a union.
The majority want what we have, they're jealous. They have shytty jobs were they have to take whatever scoop of crap their bosses hands out with a smile or else. And they hate that.
 

brownelf

Well-Known Member
I have a hostess warehouse/barn distribution center on my area, how would you feel if UPS decided to stop making payments to your pension? Hostess hasn't made a payment to the plan in over a year, while providing the management with the usual bonus to keep them from leaving. It wasn't the union who broke the contract it was the company, unfortunately it looks as though the hourly employees are gonna lose their jobs when they close the doors. There's many other issues also including cutting the driver's commission in half and more than doubling the health insurance cost for the employees.
 

menotyou

bella amicizia
Jealous of what, exactly?
shoes_ia21220.jpg Aren't else lovely shoes by Carlos?
shoes_ia21220.jpg
 
Maybe for a hooker. j/k

Sweetie. The Hostess we're talking about is the snack foods one. Albeit the "Ding Dong" name may throw some off.

We're not talking about the Hostess who wears those shoes for $200 an hour. :raspberry-tounge:
 
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