Trucking And Unionization...

So you guys believe that paying the workers more would cause prices to go up, but I disagree. Companies are holding trillions of dollars in off-shore bank accounts and spending hundreds of billions to buy back their own shares instead of giving more to the workers so we can spend it on more goods we truly need

Sure, they can do that but they won't. They'll raise prices to cover the cost of doing business and to keep the stock price rising. I don't think it's right, but if I were a betting man I'd put it all on raising prices rather than touching the off shore accounts.

So combine the cash on hand and stock buybacks of the largest 500 companies in the U.S. and it equals 30% of our entire GDP! I'd sure love to see some of that go to the workers who are actually producing the goods and services.

I would too.

Someone mentioned those top executives deserve more because they're taking more risks. Really? What risks do you think they're taking? Sitting in a boardroom in meetings all day doesn't seem that risky. Knowing you'll get paid a multi-million dollar severance if you get fired for being incompetent doesn't seem that risky.

There's some confusion here. I believe a founder should reap the benefits of their gamble paying off. An executive isn't necessarily a founder.

As for the executives, the free market determines what they make. At my level, I compare benefits, hourly and mileage pay. That's what I use to compare company A and company B. Company A has to offer x in compensation because company B is offering y. That's the way it is from the top to the bottom. If a company were to offer me an extra 10 CPM , I'd probably jump on it because that's an extra 1,000 a month.

I don't think unions hurt anybody, but I also don't think they're necessary. Labor laws and OSHA have taken the place of what unions used to do. Now they're just about arbitration and benefits.

The only beef I have with the union is the pension fund government bail out. I feel the same way I did about the big bank bailout in 2008.

The Butch Lewis Act of 2021 has the department of Treasury putting money in the pension fund.

The money to pay retiree and other benefits will be transferred from the U.S. Department of the Treasury to the federal pension insurance program, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. The PBGC will then pay the money to plans in the form of one-time lump sum cash payments.

To get an idea of what a failure the Pension Plan is

The Pension Fund’s latest financial report shows that it paid $1.4 billion in benefits in the first six months of this year, but took in only $337 million in employer contributions, leading to the $1.1 billion loss. 

As for the executives, the free market determines what they make.

Only if you consider the CEO's 12 good friends, who are all on the board of directors, as being a free market. Because that's who determines his salary. And don't forget, most CEOs are on the board of other companies. So they often vote for each other's salaries. It's an insider's club, and we ain't in it. That's not a free market.

Also, if the free market is determining salaries, then you must conclude the free market has determined that CEOs have become increasingly more important than the entire workforce over the past few decades because their salary continues to rise in proportion to the workers. So CEOs and top executives are becoming increasingly important, while workers become increasingly less important? How could that be?

CEOs and top executives do not invent, design, test, build, implement, or maintain anything. They don't have the knowledge or skill set to do the jobs of the people they manage. So how could they become increasingly important compared to the workers, especially in a high-tech economy where they need more and more highly trained, intelligent workers?

Look at NFL teams as an example. Would you argue the coach is becoming more and more important in football? The coach manages the team by choosing the players and calling the plays. The players execute. As far as importance goes, who do you think would be more likely to have some success in football; a team with no coach or a coach with no team?

Now, look at a trucking company as another example. Who do you think would have a better chance at success, a group of truckers without a CEO or a CEO without a group of truckers? Now you could say, "We need both." Well, to some extent, you do. But if you had to put your money on one or the other, who would you pick? It's pretty obvious.

Let's go back to the NFL for a moment. NFL players now have agents and a union. Several decades ago, they did not. Back in the day, NFL players used to have part-time jobs in the offseason because they didn't make enough money to pay their bills. Nowadays, they make millions. Do you think they'd be making millions without agents and a union, or do you think they'd be like the rest of us just working for a normal salary while the upper executives rake in all those millions?

If you're not sure, look at college football. College players make nothing, the universities and the coaches make hundreds of thousands and up to many millions. Why? The NCAA made a rule that says you can't pay a college player. Do you think they would have been able to pass a rule like that if the players had a union? Obviously not!

Only if you consider the CEO's 12 good friends, who are all on the board of directors, as being a free market.

Good point, I hadn't considered that.

So CEOs and top executives are becoming increasingly important, while workers become increasingly less important? How could that be?

Workers are more important, but there's more workers available than people capable of being a CEO and steering the ship and leading the company.

CEOs and top executives do not invent, design, test, build, implement, or maintain anything. They don't have the knowledge or skill set to do the jobs of the people they manage. So how could they become increasingly important compared to the workers, especially in a high-tech economy where they need more and more highly trained, intelligent workers?

The CEO of Dunkin' brands is David Hoffman. Hoffman made 5 million last year (according to Google). I think he's overpaid. The CEO of FedEx is Fred Smith. Fred Smith made 9 million last year (Google again) and I think that's fair. The difference is that Hoffman was hired to be CEO and Smith founded the company. He thought checks via snail mail took too long so he borrowed money and bought a plane to ship checks. All the risk all the reward. Jeff Bezos quit his 6 figure job in Manhattan and went to Seattle to start selling books online out of a rented office space. He deserves whatever he gets.

Now, look at a trucking company as another example. 

A group of truckers. But what about the financial risk involved? That has to count for something. Otherwise, everybody should be an owner op. Trucking is like construction. It's a race to the bottom. The job bids don't go up, they go down. Who will do the best job for the least amount of money.

Do you think they'd be making millions without agents and a union, or do you think they'd be like the rest of us just working for a normal salary while the upper executives rake in all those millions?

It's not the same. You're dealing with a set amount of staff and players. It doesn't fluctuate and if it does, it's not by much. There are salary caps and the bids go up because there are a limited amount of roster spots and you want the best and only the best. Teams also get money from the NFL and not every player is treated equally. That second string kicker you never heard of isn't going to be paid like Tom Brady and there isn't anything he can do about it. He can become the best kicker in the history of the game, still not Tom Brady.

Why? The NCAA made a rule that says you can't pay a college player.

I have no idea how any of this works because I don't care for sports. I'm doing what I can with what I know.

I'm guessing there's levels to this. Some players get full rides while the walk on guy has to take out student loans. The walk on guy would be the equivalent of the kicker above and the star athlete doesn't have a care in the world.