As of Monday May 1st I will no longer have medical, dental & vision benefits because I turn 65 in two weeks. Having these benefits made my decision to hang it up easy as soon as I was eligible. No waiting for the next contract, no more taking the daily stress and crap handed to you everyday while in your browns. Yes the costs that I was told I would pay over these last 10 years has crept up, but all in all I feel blessed to of had them. Hard to believe that it will be 10 years on 1/1/18 that I walked out into retirement.
Time flies, and that is the one thing we cannot buy. I value my time on this earth as priceless. Myself and others who have benefited with these retirement health care plans have truly earned them. As everyone someday will make that decision, you have to think back about those who have paved the way to where we are today. I feel lucky that as I look back on the Union itself , the old timers who helped me when I was a rookie, who gave me solid advice from experiences that they had prior to my hiring. I carried that advice and had respect for those who made things amongst us as a team of Brothers & Sisters a symbol of Strength, something that I feel today is somewhat lacking.
Since 1981 there has been many changes with UPS here and around the world, but the one thing that cannot change is that all of you still working have to stick together and hold strong in the face of the many changes that come about contract after contract.
Ups would like nothing better than to dissolve the Union, and cause us to fight amongst ourselves, which I am sure many of you can relate. I never thought that some of the hard earned benefits earned by those before me, and handed to me when I got hired would someday vanish little by little like erosion of a beach, not to return. I now move on with Life, dealing with SS medical, and a steady pension check every month.
Not many in this country can say they retired at 55 with medical benefits, we could because of banding together to make a better future for ourselves, our Families, current workers and retirees that follow. Without the Brotherhood I experienced with over 25 years at UPS that would of not been possible. My hats off to those who made the last 35+ years of my life better, something that some would come to envy, and for that I am Very Thankful, I am a blessed and Lucky guy for sure. Peace To All
