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Pension Reform Signals the End of Pensions

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unionnow	Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2006 4:57 pm
Joined: 05 Feb 2006 Posts: 695 Location: Gettin the Hell out of retail	Quote: "The day of defined-benefit pensions is almost gone," said U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Swissvale. pittsburghlive.com Congress nears allowing companies to end defined pension plans for workers of any age under the guise of “pension reform”. To assure its passage they are using the savings that they would have paid to Pension Benefit Guarantee Fund to enshrine further estate tax cuts and to make them permanent. They have also added a minimum wage increase to pull in more votes. Read more: forbes.com/home/business/2006/07/28/tax-pension-reform forbes.com/business/2006/07/29/tax-pension-reform Once again our Union bosses have failed to mobilize the membership under on of the most important pieces of legislation that affects workers in US history. Once signed, we may see the grocery companies close, end or further limit our pensions starting in one of the biggest states of the union. The wage/ pension and Health and welfare disparities are now high enough where workers will not walk out in support of their higher paid counterparts. The UFCW is suspected to already be negotiating with the employers as they send out the usual round of surveys to Southern California workers under the guise of joint collective action against the employers. Nothing could be further from the truth. Even though it is said that, “new UFCW International President Joe Hansen, has pledged that the UFCW will coordinate contract negotiations amongst all UFCW local unions in the United States and Canada that have contracts expiring in 2006 and 2007”, we should know by now that their words and their actions are always exclusive of reality. In other words, in this writer’s opinion that it’s all a big sham. Most of the (all of the big ones) Southern California locals have failed to mobilize for the next round of contract talks. Just about all the locals in California are squabbling over how it should be done. The fact is that effective mobilization is drawn upon tried and true methods and coordination. Union leaders will not mobilize the membership because they fear an activist, educated and informed membership. Another big factor is that our high paid union leadership, business staff and UFCW International staff simply does not know how to mobilize and even if they wanted to results would be spotty as some locals would participate while other would not. It is rumored that Burd and the CEO’s are leading our union leadership around with promises of victory for the UFCW with small wage hikes for entry level workers while they are hell bent on destroying the ”high cost” benefit packages of existing workers. By destroying pension and benefits the CEO’s know that they have removed one of the biggest reasons for being union, the pensions and benefits. We may well see plan A medical benefits eliminated for all workers (except union staff, of course) and the closure of the pension plans to new hires if not the complete cashing out and rolling over of our pensions into individual hybrid defined contribution plans. Guess who is not going to contribute to your plan? Years of nepotism have produced the sort of inbreeding that produced the European Royalty of earlier centuries in our history. Intermarriage and incestuous relationships has created a class of weaklings who rule over us. They retain power in much the same autocratic fashion. Threats, ballot box stuffing, phony rules that they don’t enforce, the use of their power and wealth to crush all who dare to challenge in the field of free ideas are all used to retain power when needed. Thus the private sector union movement is destined to end in the same fashion. That is, with a few toothless outposts of royalty left that are just figureheads to be propped up for ceremony whenever needed by the real rulers. We all know this stuff. What we have is another looming disaster for grocery workers in California. The inertia of this is unstoppable without a mass rising up of workers in general. _________________ “The burden against Damascus. ‘Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, and it will be a ruinous heap. (Isaiah 17:1-2)
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Elvis	Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2006 6:37 pm
Joined: 01 Feb 2006 Posts: 661 Location: Toronto	unionnow wrote: Years of nepotism have produced the sort of inbreeding that produced the European Royalty of earlier centuries in our history. Intermarriage and incestuous relationships has created a class of weaklings who rule over us. They retain power in much the same autocratic fashion. Threats, ballot box stuffing, phony rules that they don’t enforce, the use of their power and wealth to crush all who dare to challenge in the field of free ideas are all used to retain power when needed. Thus the private sector union movement is destined to end in the same fashion. That is, with a few toothless outposts of royalty left that are just figureheads to be propped up for ceremony whenever needed by the real rulers. ...just highlighting the beauty of the piece. _________________ Henri Ducard: Your compassion is a weakness your enemies will not share. Bruce Wayne: That's why it's so important. It separates us from them.
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loonietunes	Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2006 8:30 pm
Joined: 30 Mar 2006 Posts: 1210	[quote="unionnow"] Quote: The fact is that effective mobilization is drawn upon tried and true methods and coordination. Union leaders will not mobilize the membership because they fear an activist, educated and informed membership. Another big factor is that our high paid union leadership, business staff and UFCW International staff simply does not know how to mobilize and even if they wanted to results would be spotty as some locals would participate while other would not. It is rumored that Burd and the CEO’s are leading our union leadership around with promises of victory for the UFCW with small wage hikes for entry level workers while they are hell bent on destroying the ”high cost” benefit packages of existing workers. By destroying pension and benefits the CEO’s know that they have removed one of the biggest reasons for being union, the pensions and benefits. We may well see plan A medical benefits eliminated for all workers (except union staff, of course) and the closure of the pension plans to new hires if not the complete cashing out and rolling over of our pensions into individual hybrid defined contribution plans. Guess who is not going to contribute to your plan? The inertia of this is unstoppable without a mass rising up of workers in general. Great over-all piece--UNIONNOW--and you are right on target! Lets not loose hope for a "mass-uprising!" Its happenned before and it will happen again! LT
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Pearson	Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 2:09 pm
Joined: 03 Feb 2006 Posts: 1417 Location: Sun City AZ	I have to agree with Lt on this; way awesome piece Un. My compliments to you. While the AFL-CIO has long used the standards of wage differences between union and non, it has always been the benefits that have made union workers the envy of non union. Employer paid health care and defined benefit plans have been the definning difference. As we speak, they are being dismantled. You and i disagreed a couple of years back during the old Slaveway days. You said this would happen; i argued the boys would fight it to the death. Boy was i wrong. Looks like they have bought into the employers happy horseshit and are slowly allowing their trusts to crumble. Of course, theirs will remain intact so i guess the world is good...at least for them. Thanks again for an article well written. _________________ If we don't do it, who will?
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