The bill currently working it’s way through Congress is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It relies on the fact that most people don’t know the history of employer bankruptcy, and how the working people get screwed by the judicial system during these proceedings.
My cousin is married to a former airline pilot, who worked for Pan Am, and then Delta. He retired, and when Delta went bankrupt he and other Union (and non-union) pilots had their retirement benefits pulled out from under them. He’s several years older than I am, and I’m no spring chicken. He had to go back to work, and is still working.
Health benefits went on the chopping block. Creditors and the company get first dibs on available money, and it comes out of the hides of the employees. There is tension between the money that goes into building and running the company, and the employees and their labor that make an equal contribution. The company would not function without either, but the efforts and money put in by the employees is considered less significant. They can always get someone else to do the work.
Both are required for the company to thrive but the labor is not considered. I had read about this some time back and was outraged then. What happened to my cousin made it all the more real to me.
I mention this because this is what I see happening, if and when Postal employees get split off from the rest of the herd.
There is absolutely no reason for our health benefits to be affected, and there is no reason for us to have a separate retirement plan. All that they have to do is end the prefunding. That and our give backs should more than settle their financial situation but it hasn’t. That shows the control management has over the process.
I don’t know what our attorney’s and leadership are thinking when they say this is best for us, but that is a lot of horse hockey (to use a saying from MASH).
What I am saying may not happen, but if the past is prologue to the future, we are going to get screwed.
Oh did I mention, they’re non-union now?
First Name: Dan
Last Name: Kuralt
Email: drkuralt@comcast.net
Union/Local: Springfield, MA Area Local
Office held if any: Past president and retiree member
Union and NAME of Local/Branch
APWU Area Local 497
Office held, if any
Past President and retiree member
Those days are long gone, John
Union and NAME of Local/Branch
Pittsburgh PA Retiree Chapter
Office held, if any
President Pgh Local 1974-1994, APWU DIR 1980-1983, President Retiree Chapter
Anyone interested in picketing APWU Headquarters?
Union and NAME of Local/Branch
Michigan State Retiree Chapter, Flint MI Area Local Retiree Chapter
Office held, if any
Past President Michigan State Retiree Chapter & Former Central Region National Retiree Representative (a.k.a. Delegate)
Dan Kuralt expresses concerns many retired members and past leadership have with HR 756. A red flag always goes up when I read that it’s “not a perfect” bill! Okay, rather than always touting the positive aspects of the legislation; exactly what is/are the “imperfect” aspects….unvarnished? I marvel at the statements that it’s “fair” to active members and retirees. Retirees are shouldering the entire weight of the proposed legislation.
The matters of door-to-door delivery, and preserving 6-day delivery, are primarily NALC issues, but supported by all postal workers, regardless of craft. I could be wrong-headed in thinking the NALC contract negotiations are in an extended status. Would anyone be surprised if NALC’s Rolando has an ace up his sleeve on those 2 vital issues?
With HR 756 almost universally endorsed by APWU Local & State Union leadership, and supposedly the other 3 postal Unions; I want potential members to the APWU Constitution Committee, and delegates to the 2018 APWU National Convention to give their full, fair, and careful consideration to a Resolution amending the Constitution to provide proportionate retiree Chapter delegate REPRESENTATION in Convention. We earned it! Active members jobs allegedly saved if HR 756 is enacted. If that’s as true as being sold, retired members are owed Big Time!