While I agree with his general view of the situation, I disagree with Brother Stock's theory that we are too busy reading the stock market pages - if anybody had been doing that, there would have been an effort, or at least the suggestion, to try to recoup the Pension Plan give-away that McWilliams made in 97 (which saved the Employers 40 million on the spot and continues and will continue to save them close to 100 million per annum).
Instead we negotiated tokens here and there and issues which appeal to separate interest groups. The motive behind appealing to what some might be term the greed of those special interest groups should be examined. So should the motives behind the deception of those who think they are doing the right thing by supporting the so-called benefit that the Pensioners derive from this contract.
Break out of the contrived tunnel vision and see it for what it is. It is either the worst kind of politics (the make me look good no matter what is really happening and get me re-elected at any cost variety) or, at the most generous, it is ignorance personified.
At the rate money which previously would have had to be contributed to the pension's funding is being salted away by the employers (and at the rate of interest it now draws for them--NOT us) it could have paid for double the increase that ANYBODY got!
Giving the employers a dollar and then talking them into flipping a quarter to the retirees and a nickel to the widows is only great bargaining in the propaganda of those trying to get re-elected at any expense, to those whom they deceive and to those who require remedial arithmetic classes.
Frats,
Ole
