I expect more class from Teamsters!

Teamsters piss me off!

If they're not getting enormous pay for doing little work, they're griping for better benefits and being general pain in the asses to the public.

The Teamsters moved into the county here and a friend of mine had this peach of a job before they came. He drove around all day by himself, replaced damaged street signs, buried road kill and goofed off for hours. Plus he had keys to the restricted areas of parks so he could go for a drive and eat his lunch in peace. He loaded his truck by himself with what he needed and was learning to make street signs.

The Teamsters came in and decided that he MUST have a helper, which he did not want or need. Plus he MUST have someone help load his truck, which just screwed things up for him. His helper was a con out on work release and basically got in the way, goofed off and annoyed him.

The county used to give out good raises and things like turkeys or hams for holidays, but after the Teamsters came in, that all stopped. Now they give out Teamster regulated raises which are less than they used to provide for good workers. Plus, having to hire on extra 'helpers' they stopped providing the Turkeys and Hams.

To make matters worse, complaints by workers to the Union Rep, who is the dumbest bastige they could find, get nowhere. It's like the Union came in and then wrote them off.

My friend resigned.

I've run into Union fanatics before when I was a courier and they picketed a business and tried to stop me from delivering THEIR OWN PAY CHECKS! However, the truck was mightier than the picket line and I just drove through them. (My boss told me not to later, saying his insurance would not cover damage to the truck caused by crossing a picket line.)

This just proves one of my rules in life: don't trust unions. They once had a noble purpose but have become so corrupt that they're no longer of any use to your average Joe who's trying to eke out a living.

I worked with a guy who retired down here in Florida and he told me how he used to work for a union, in administration. Basically, he said that nepotism was high as the union bosses hired their worthless relatives and friends for high paying jobs that most never did, how they squandered the money on parties and luxury hotel rooms for 'business meetings' and generally didn't consider the average Union worker.

They took bribes from businesses not wanting their union in and when they decided to crash a nonunion shop, they did it in ways that you read about in the history books from the 1920s, ranging from harassing workers to picking one nonunion employee as a scapegoat and making him or her look like the evilest person around. They even passed out ridiculous flyers with crude cartoons on them.

Another friend of mine, when the Union came into the City Department, wasn't going to join as he had a great job, good benefits, a great boss and was happy where he was, but the Union paid several burly employees to threaten those holding out. He was intimidated into joining. One thing the Union did was slash his accumulated sick time. He had been bragging how, since he rarely took sick, that when he retired, the city was going to pay him for around a years worth of unused sick time. So not only was he going to get a good pension, but a cash bonus on top of that.

Well, after the Union came in and forced expensive changes, the city changed its policies on accumulated sick time. Now, when he retires, he MIGHT get around half of what he accumulates.

I estimate that the Union probably cost him something like $15,000.

Plus, like the County, the City used to give out hams and turkeys on holidays but they stopped that once the Teamsters moved in.

County Union members discovered that the Union approved health care plan really sucked and some did research and discovered that other businesses, also Union, using the same provider, were getting greater benefits at less cost. Biatching to the Union rep got them no where. So, they banded together themselves and got management to refuse to renew the health care plan unless the company (Blue Cross and Blue Shield) provided them with a better policy.

It did and they won WITHOUT union help.

I figure the Union was probably getting a bit of a kick back from the health care provider by encouraging a limited plan for a high cost.

I understand the need for unions, having studied history and the abuse of the Robber Barons and the rich factory owners of their workers, but I also am aware of the corruption Unions encourage and the ridiculous costs they can cause a company by giving the members the power to increase their pay.

Like an auto worker who stands on the assembly line, with a power wrench, tightening a few bolts on a car as it comes by. He'll make anywhere from $14 to $20 an hour, Union scale, PLUS have several REQUIRED breaks, an excellent health care plan and OSHA in his pocket. So, as a result that new car, which should cost around $5000 now costs around $10,000 that WE have to pay. Not to mention that car makers have cheapened cars to save money, like putting on plastic bumpers or no bumpers at all. Removing the once obligatory crash bars in the doors of passenger cars. Inventing that CHEAP and ridiculous tiny, little spare tire they used to give us, eliminating the very useful wing windows and removing the very sturdy A-frame or steel under chassis.

["Well, obviously, we know that (mourners) will be upset with it," he said. "Unfortunately, it's the business we are in. The only alternative is not picketing at all."]

Well, obviously, we know that YOU ARE AN ASSHAT. Picketing a funeral!? WTF!?