RUSH: Bill in Clemson, South Carolina, welcome to the EIB Network. Hello.
CALLER: Rush, Army veteran dittos from Clemson, South Carolina.
RUSH: Thank you very much, sir. I appreciate that.
CALLER: I was a teamster for 12 years in Seattle, and I wanted to call and put this myth to bed that these union protesters are actually trying to protect jobs. Senior seniority union members are interested in j-o-b, singular. They do not care about jobs that are below them in the seniority list. I sat in both many times —
RUSH: Wait just a second. Hold it now, you’re introducing something new and I want to make sure I understand. You said you’re a Teamster for 12 years Seattle and you want to put the myth to bed that the union protesters were trying to protect jobs.
CALLER: Right. The only job they’re interested in is their own. I’ve been in many votes where it meant pennies to senior union members, say a cut in pay or a little bit more they had to pay for their retirement or a little bit more they had to pay for health care or we would lose jobs, and without fail they would pay to keep the money in their pocket rather than save jobs. This governor’s told them, ‘Look you’re gonna lose 12,000 jobs.’ They don’t care. If you’re below them on the seniority list, the top 50% plus one vote will vote in lockstep every single time, and these younger seniority members —
RUSH: Wait a minute, now, somebody has to care because of the dues. The dues add up and the dues result in having as many members of the union as you can get.
CALLER: Well, look, I drove for 12 years for the newspaper in Seattle. I went through a couple of strikes and each time it meant losing jobs, the vote went, ‘I’m not giving up my money.’ And that meant younger guys who had young families lost their jobs, and women, every single time.
RUSH: Well, wait a minute now. What was the alternative? What would it have cost you if they kept their jobs?
CALLER: It would have meant a slight cut in pay, and if I recall correctly once it was a 5% cut in pay. No chance. If it meant paying a little more for health care, no way, not a chance. If it meant cutting jobs or I get to keep my money, I’m keeping my money, every single time. Now, you talked about the dues, I want to know why nobody in the media has asked these union members from Wisconsin, ‘Wait a minute, this president of your union is making $480,000 a year. Does that not tell you you’re paying too much in union fees?’ I’d be outraged if I was in a union and I had a union president —
RUSH: Well, I’ve had that question ever since I was a kid, ever since I first saw a Teamsters convention in Las Vegas with Jimmy Hoffa and the boys —
CALLER: Exactly.
RUSH: — reveling in it. I thought, who’s paying for this? The union members are.
CALLER: Well, there’s another question there. All these protesters, these Teamsters bused in from New York and Indiana and Illinois, these are senior union guys with seniority. They’re ostensibly dedicated to their jobs, correct? Well, they’re not working, and guess who’s filling in for them? These lower seniority workers who are gonna get thrown under the bus, and these guys don’t care, they’re burning up —
RUSH: Well, I wondered about that, too, all these union guys coming from out of state, who’s doing their jobs? Now we know. Well, I’m glad you called. Thanks very much, Bill. I appreciate it.