That's an assumption but I agree with you. UPS needed cash for acquisitions to continue to increase revenue and profit. The strike accelerated the progression towards public. The only difference was the timing. Working for a publicly traded company tends to suck in general.
It used to be that we would have to take a ride down to the pension fund office in Syracuse (NY) to start the retirement process. Within the past 5 years that has no longer been the case-----everything can be done through e-mail, US Mail or over the phone. Part of our retirement application packet is the application for retiree medical benefits.
For some ... not for all! Some places like Chicago, New York, New Jersey are stholes and that's the nature of big cities.
That's exactly what my wife and I did last week. I will take all of my vacation and receive my first retirement check April 1st, 2020