On 03-28-09, BOB ACKLEY said to TIM RICHARDSON:


TR> A person can work hard, be a great asset to their employer,
TR> and `earn' their employers added benefits and gratuities; or a worker
TR> can be a `unionist', forced to pay a portion of their hard-earned
TR> money to the `union', and recieve largess (a pittance) from the
TR> `union'.

BA>Many years ago I read about a guy that had been an OTR truck driver for
BA>upwards of 45 years.  There was a break of two or three years somewhere
BA>in the middle of that career when he was doing something else.  When he
BA>was driving he'd always been a member of the Teamsters.  He finally got
BA>to the point where he couldn't drive any more and had to retire.  He
BA>applied for a pension from the Teamsters and was told he wasn't eligible
BA>to receive one - after paying union dues for well over forty years.  Seems
BA>the rule was that you had to be paying those dues for at least 25
BA>*consecutive* years and his 40+ years didn't qualify because of that break
BA>in the middle. --- FleetStreet 1.19+


There was a guy here in the area named Roger Ambill. He was a heavy equipment
and semi-dump truck driver for many years, and belonged to the union. He had
about 22 or more years in it when he had a heart attack.


He went to the hospital, had treatment, got put on medication and was told he
could no longer work.


The union got the hospital paid, was paying for the medication and follow-up
doctor office visits, and just about two years down the road the union sends
him a letter telling him this was his last disability check from the union,
his benefits had expired, he would have to apply for social security
disability from that point onward (which of course takes months sometimes a
couple of years to finally get started), so long and good luck!


He and I met several times and were at each others homes a few times. When the
money stopped, his wife left him, the bank forclosed on his mobilehome, and he
was just living there the last few months before moving to a friends apartment
building. His social security disability checks were starting to come.


One morning I stopped by the mobile home park to see him and found him dead in
his living room.


The medication he was supposed to be taking for his heart he could no longer
afford, and he wasn't getting it.


Not one single union official was at his funereal. They didn't send an
acknowledgement of his membership of many years, or even a floral arrangement
and a card!


I've belonged to a few unions over the years. They fuckin' suck!



---
*Durango b301 #PE*