This administration must think Teamsters are stupid

Enter Stage Right ^ | 07/11/10 | John Bender

[freespirited]

It flew under the radar and produced no comment from any quarter but it was a story begging for comment. Vice President Biden spoke to the Teamsters at their convention seeking support from the rank and file like the support he has from the union's so called leaders. Nobody mentioned that this was just five months after Obama announced that this administration was going to let Mexican trucks come to the U.S. to kill Teamster jobs.

The administration must think truck drivers are stupid. Why in the world would truckers vote for people who are trying to give their jobs to aliens?

James Hoffa, the president of the union, is a big Obama/Biden supporter. But Hoffa never drove a truck. He is a lawyer whose only qualification for the job of president of the union is that he happens to be the son of the late labor leader Jimmy Hoffa.

Of course he is nowhere near the man his father was. He is neither as smart as his father nor as tough. He is a leftist, elitist, who thinks more government is the answer to every problem. And he doesn't have the balls to stand up to the government when it kicks his union in the groin.

I didn't know Jimmy Hoffa. Nor do I know James. I did have the pleasure and honor of knowing Roy Williams. I can assure you that were Mr. Williams president of the Teamsters today, Mexicans wouldn't be taking Teamsters' jobs and Biden wouldn't be anywhere near a Teamsters convention. And, from what Mr. Williams told me about Jimmy Hoffa, Jimmy would be fighting Obama/Biden tooth and nail. I'm also sure that he would be ashamed of his son.

The Teamsters backed Reagan against the radical leftist Carter. The Teamsters were the most vocal of the Reagan Democrats. Of course, in those days the union had leaders with balls. These were men who actually drove trucks and understood how the economy works.

Mr. Williams didn't look down on the membership. He came from their ranks. He knew the membership was smart enough to know that their standard of living depended on a thriving private sector and not on an ever expanding and ever more intrusive government.

Obama, Biden and James Hoffa may think they can fool the poor dumb truck drivers into thinking it is in their interest to vote for an administration that is destroying American jobs, but I tend to doubt it. I also doubt that the drivers will vote for an administration that doubled the price of fuel, and is raiding the Highway Trust Fund to pay to replace the mufflers on Mexican trucks with catalytic converters. I also doubt that the drivers will forget that this administration is using tax money to pay to equip Mexican trucks with electronic on-board recorders (EOBR).

The administration and the union bosses may think the drivers are stupid. I don't.

I'm betting that no matter what the pampered punk of a president tells the drivers, they will vote to get rid of this administration. Hopefully they will get rid of James too. After all, he's spent more time trying to save government jobs than fighting to save Teamsters' jobs.

The teachers' union and the state, county and municipal workers' union aren't putting food on the drivers' tables. The Teamsters' union's bosses are more worried about protecting the bloated bureaucracies in all levels of government than about protecting drivers' jobs. Back when the union was run by real men that didn't happen.

Teamsters helped rid the country of Carter and the economic mess he created. I have faith in the drivers that they will once again stand strong and help rid the country of Obama as well.

[autumnraine]

What incentive is there for ANY trucking company to remain in the US if the Mexican trucking companies can come in and have TAX FUNDED EQUIPMENT that the US trucking companies are REQUIRED to pay for themselves? Not to mention the labor/wages/work comp/etc... which will never compete for shipping.

Hell, if I had a trucking company, I think I’D move to Mexico.

[donozark]

I recall when ROADWAY ruled Ohio. Large presence in virtually every state. Now? Merged with YELLOW FREIGHT. Both “downsizing.” ROADWAY trailers being re-painted/scrapped. Freight terminals/yards closing/combining.

[Elle Bee]

yea ... I remember the Teamster marina almost 2 million in 1960s dollars ..... and no water as far as you could see

but no one has stolen money from their coffers the way the government's gang of has-beens and political hacks running the Consent Decree since the late 80s

.

[Elle Bee]

actually those loans to build Vegas worked out quite well for the union ... even if you count the deliberately 'bad' loans LOL

.

[donozark]

Jackie Presser once bragged he didn’t need to take bribes under the table because he had union money if he needed a million $.

[Soul of the South]

“Whatever happened to those big truck freight hauling companies of the past? I remember seeing RedBall everywhere. What were some of the others?”

Consolidated Freightways, McLean, Arrow, Crescent, Allied Van Lines, Carolina Freightways, Overnite, Pilot Freight, Spartan, Thurston among others. Roadway Express and Yellow have merged.

[momincombatboots]

I drive. I have seen a Mexican truckers rig. It was quite enlightening becAuse that one was mechanically unsafe. However
with the new Anti trucker regs.... More of those will be out driving with your family. Seriously folks it was scary.

[Elle Bee]

Jackie invented the modern day PAC fund

his PR guy Duke Zeller wrote a book called DEVIL'S PACT ... it will open your eyes

.

[shotgun]

Back in 1982 I received my monthly magazine from the United Association of Plumbers and Steamfitters which had a piece in it from the UA President telling members to support congressional election of the candidate that was most likely to support construction related issues regardless of party affiliation. I showed it to my dad who was totally anti-union, and he about fell out of his chair.

As an now ex-union member I cannot understand the fascination of unions to support leftist candidates. They give their money to them then get kicked in the ass because their candidate supports all of the other job killing causes.

[386wt]

Consolidated Freightways, McLean, Arrow, Crescent, Allied Van Lines, Carolina Freightways, Overnite, Pilot Freight, Spartan, Thurston...

Thanks. Other than Roadway/Yellow merger, are they all gone now? If so, do you know why?

[Vigilanteman]

Thanks for the link. Everyone at the time knew that the Teamster's Union failure to endorse the Democrat candidate as usual amounted to a defacto endorsement of the Republican candidate. I don't recall that they actually went through with the promised endorsement. They may have, but Reagan's push for deregulation didn't exactly endear him to the nation's largest transportation union either.

I do remember that McGovern was so bad, the Teamster's actually came out early for Nixon. Even more surprising was the AFL-CIO refused to make an endorsement at all. I was too young to vote at the time (by just a few years) but very active politically. I also remember some reporter asking George Meany (then AFL-CIO boss) why he didn't run for president and he replied tersely "I don't care to step down!" He was an arrogant bustard, but he did have a small sense of humor.

[chuckles]

I haven't been a Teamster in decades, but do know that they have voted Republican before. Many "Teamsters" are independent truck owners who need to be in the union to get access to certain locations. That certainly doesn't make them Democrats. My father was a Teamster that had never voted Democrat in his life. He was an independent truck owner that hired drivers for his trucks and paid scale for union jobs and less than scale for non union jobs. I would estimate most truck owners fit this scenario.

As far as the Mexican trucker situation goes, I'm not sure where that is today. The first I was aware of it was when Clinton signed NAFTA. The truckers were incensed and I don't know if allowances were made. I do know that a terrible wreck in Corrigan Texas was caused by a Mexican truck with failed brakes went through a light at 70mph and "T boned" a woman and her child and ended up in an Exxon station across the street and burned it to the ground. There was no hiding it because electricity was knocked out over a wide area and important phone lines also burned. There was a huge stink over that and I wasn't aware that trucks were allowed on the US side at the time. The trucks were supposed to dump their loads at the border and a US truck and driver was supposed to take over from there. If its going south, we would dump the load and the Mexican driver and truck would take it from the border.

This has been the sticking point since day one. Their trucks don't have safety requirements and ours are picked clean by the DPS and it costs us more $$ to deliver a load. The Mexicans could put American truckers out of business just on operation costs alone. They can pay them a dollar an hour and put them behind the wheel of a rolling bomb against a US driver and truck.

This part of "free trade" can never be worked out. We can never guarantee the driver is fit to drive even if we inspect their trucks at the border each trip to the US. I know there are several deaths every year from Mexican drivers, but I don't know if they are driving here legally.

If you just look at the regulations US drivers go through, there is no way a Mexican driver and truck could stand up to it.

[SUSSA]

This is from the Teamsters’ own web site:
“For example, in 1980 and 1984, the Teamsters endorsed Ronald Reagan for president. (Reagan was a union leader, having served as the president of the Screen Actors Guild. Teamsters union members are fixtures on the crews of television shows and motion picture sets.) In 1988, the union endorsed George H.W. Bush.”

It appears the union not only endorsed Reagan both times, but endorsed Bush the Elder in his first run as well. I didn’t remember them endorsing Bush, but I was pretty sure they endorsed Reagan.

Not that it matters all that much. I doubt we will ever see the union endorse another Republican.

[Buckeye McFrog]

I can assure you that were Mr. Williams president of the Teamsters today, Mexicans wouldn't be taking Teamsters' jobs

That's because in those days every last one of them would have taken a brick thru the windshield by the time they reached the third overpass in El Paso.

[Vigilanteman]

Good find. The Teamsters evidently value just a little token bipartisanship in their endorsements. The rest of them won't endorse a Republican under any circumstances unless they are really Democrats like our ex-senator Arlen Spechter.

You are probably right that we won't see it again in our lifetime. PATCO thought they could get away with an illegal strike because they endorse Reagan in 1980, but he showed them he meant what he said.

One of the most satisfactory parts of my job in supply chain management is that I can get even just a little bit with some of the unions by picking non-union vendors and carriers (where I have a choice) and less obnoxious unions (where I don't).

One of them actually complained to my boss about the policy. After I showed him the difference in cost (union vs. non-union) and risk, this policy went from just covering our plant to company wide.

[SUSSA]

Good for you. The unions are killing many jobs.

[Soul of the South]

“Thanks. Other than Roadway/Yellow merger, are they all gone now? If so, do you know why?”

Bankruptcies ended the life of most of these firms. High fuel prices, regulation, unions, poor management or some combination of the above were contributing causes. OverNite merged with UPS. Part of the creative destruction of capitalism.

They were replaced with UPS, JB Hunt, Conway, and others. Some big companies, such as Wal-Mart, have their own trucking firms that pick up products at factories or distribution centers and then transport them to Wal-Mart distribution centers and stores. Even highly regulated markets change and evolve over time. The companies that can’t adapt and change in response to the changing needs of customers are driven out of business by market forces. Only government persists in continuing programs and activities that fail or no longer add value.

[autumnraine]

That was exactly my point. There is no way for American companies to compete either in driver salary or safety regs. American shipping companies just got put under with this crap and since the TSA is BUYING THE COMPUTERS FOR THE MEXICAN TRUCKS, we are paying to give our jobs away.

This madness has GOT TO STOP!

[autumnraine]

That was exactly my point. There is no way for American companies to compete either in driver salary or safety regs. American shipping companies just got put under with this crap and since the TSA is BUYING THE COMPUTERS FOR THE MEXICAN TRUCKS, we are paying to give our jobs away.

This madness has GOT TO STOP!

[Tribune7]

The late Frank Sheeran who takes credit for killing Jimmy Hoffa (and Joey Gallo and a lot of other people) also takes credit getting Joe Biden elected senator.