Current Events > Bernie Sanders: Pay your workers better. Warren Buffett: That's not my job

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https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/31/business/bernie-sanders-warren-buffett-steelworkers-strike/index.html

Warren Buffett, the ninth-richest person on the planet, says it's not up to him to settle a strike by 450 steelworkers at a company he owns. Sen. Bernie Sanders wrote a letter to the Berkshire Hathaway CEO, requesting that he intervene in a United Steelworkers union strike at the Special Metals plant in Huntington, West Virginia. They've been on strike for three months. Special Metals is a unit of Precision Castparts, which is owned by Buffett's Berkshire. "At a time when this company and Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) are both doing very well, there is no reason why workers employed by you should be worrying about whether they will be able to feed their children or have health care," Sanders wrote. "There is no reason why the standard of living of these hard working Americans should decline. I know that you and Berkshire Hathaway can do better than that," His letter said employees were offered a contract with no pay raise the first year, only a $2,000 signing bonus, and then pay increases of 1% the second year and 2% a year the following three years. It said the company wants to raise the cost of health coverage for workers from $275 a month to $1,000. And it reduced vacation time they have already accrued.

Sanders called the offer "outrageous and insulting." But Buffett responded with a letter quoting Berkshire's annual financial filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which tells investors that the management of its different companies is left up to the executives at each subsidy -- not Berkshire itself (or Buffett). "Our companies deal individually with their own labor and personnel decisions (except for the selection of the CEO)," he said in his response to Sanders, which was released by Sanders' office. "I'm passing along your letter to the CEO of Precision Castparts, but making no recommendations to him as to any action. He is responsible for his business." Unlike many other of the nation's richest people, Buffett has positioned himself as someone concerned workers and income inequality. He has called for higher taxes on the rich and pledged to give away most of his fortune, which now stands at just over $100 billion according to a real time billionaire tracker by Forbes. Buffett doesn't have the anti-union reputation of many other billionaires, such as Amazon (AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos or Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, who have both battled with union organizing efforts.

Lebronwon posted...

Buffett responded with a letter quoting Berkshire's annual financial filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which tells investors that the management of its different companies is left up to the executives at each subsidy -- not Berkshire itself (or Buffett). "Our companies deal individually with their own labor and personnel decisions (except for the selection of the CEO)," he said in his response to Sanders, which was released by Sanders' office. "I'm passing along your letter to the CEO of Precision Castparts, but making no recommendations to him as to any action. He is responsible for his business."

I'd give it a few days before demonizing Buffett since that's not exactly unreasonable.

If nothing comes of it then fetch my robe and my Pierre.

health coverage for workers from $275 a month to $1,000

If that's for a single person, that's a big yikes.

Zazabar posted...

If that's for a single person, that's a big yikes.

Yeah. That sounds horrific. So the company is basically not paying any part of the healthcare then?

wishing the union luck getting better pay/benefits

but also gotta respect buffett for being professional and sticking to his principles.

g980 posted...

wishing the union luck getting better pay/benefits

but also gotta respect buffett for being professional and sticking to his principles.

Yeah, I should elaborate:

What the company itself is doing is fucked in half, I already have my robe and my Pierre ready.

I just want to give Buffett a chance before putting him in the same place.

cant believe fools voted for alt right Biden over Bernie

DrizztLink posted...

my Pierre

DrizztLink posted...

Pierre ready

@DrizztLink

What the fuck is that? Google is zero help.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

It's not "corporate decorum". It's "not breaking the law." You can't tell the SEC and investors that you aren't interfering in a subsidiary, and then directly interfere.

Bandit_Keith posted...

What the fuck is that? Google is zero help.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilien_Robespierre

Aren't steelworkers quite well paid? Like 80k is pretty standard for someone with like 20 years service? Always seemed like an industry where it was more about trying to keep those jobs existing than make those jobs even more lucrative...

Can someone tldr it for me?

DrizztLink posted...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilien_Robespierre

Soooo is this some slang shit you came up with that only you would know?

Norman_Smiley posted...

Aren't steelworkers quite well paid? Like 80k is pretty standard for someone with like 20 years service? Always seemed like an industry where it was more about trying to keep those jobs existing than make those jobs even more lucrative...

how much they're actually making isn't relevant in this scenario

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


Yeah I don't see a lot wrong here from either side.

I don't see a problem he's right those decisions should be left to those running those companies. buffet can't just over reach into every company he owns and take over how they handle things. Both Bernie and buffet are right the company is a 100% at fault though.

Veggeta_MAX posted...

Can someone tldr it for me?

dude this is 2 paragraphs

Sanders made the smart move here by going after Buffetnot only does he get to raise the profile of the strike and put more pressure on the company to make concessions to the workers, but with Buffets tepid response he is able to perfectly demonstrate that no billionaire, no matter how popular or benevolent-seeming, is going to solve the problems inherent to our current economic system.

codey posted...

dude this is 2 paragraphs

Reading it isn't the problem. Understanding it is.

Dakimakura posted...

cant believe fools voted for alt right Biden over Bernie

Democrats would have forfeited the election before they would have let Bernie win. They're just as much of capitalists as Republicans. They're more subtle and deceptive about it and less willing to coddle open bigotry.

He's gonna hedge this bed he'd made
Veggeta_MAX posted...

Can someone tldr it for me?

Bernie: Fix this buffett boy
Buffett: The way its set up with lawyers and stuff, I cant
Bernie: Hmmm
Buffett: I get you fam, Imma forward this letter to the dude but he's gotta do him

News: Bernie tells Buffett to be human, Buffett says he wont do anything for the workers

Dakimakura posted...

cant believe fools voted for alt right Biden over Bernie

Mostly was boomers+elderly who are glued to msnbc

well of course that's not his job, his job is to own shit and make money off of it while contributing nothing...

this is just another instance of powerful people passing the buck, the man has overall control over the company if he leaned on the CEO this shit would be fixed today.

Bandit_Keith posted...

Soooo is this some slang shit you came up with that only you would know?

I'm sorry your school was shit, though it does certainly explain a lot about you.

DrizztLink posted...

I'm sorry your school was shit, though it does certainly explain a lot about you.

What the fuck does school have to do with your shitty made up slang?

Buffet likes to play the nice billionaire card, but he has power to actually do what he preaches. Of course he knows that its not in the best interest of his shareholders.

As said they could just remove the subsidy executive, but of course that's a messy solution.

DrizztLink posted...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilien_Robespierre

His sexual man servant

DrizztLink posted...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilien_Robespierre

Wtf

Bandit_Keith posted...

What the fuck does school have to do with your shitty made up slang?

A reference isn't slang.

You didn't get it, it wasn't exactly a masterpiece work anyway, and you spent way too long shitting your pants about it.

Zazabar posted...

If that's for a single person, that's a big yikes.

a MONTH

That's 12k more a year, that's not cheap. My dad was a unionized steelworker and we didn't get that, for a family.

DrizztLink posted...

A reference isn't slang.

You didn't get it, it wasn't exactly a masterpiece work anyway, and you spent way too long shitting your pants about it.

Nobody is shitting anything. And 15 seconds here or there isn't too much time for anything.

Norman_Smiley posted...

Aren't steelworkers quite well paid? Like 80k is pretty standard for someone with like 20 years service? Always seemed like an industry where it was more about trying to keep those jobs existing than make those jobs even more lucrative...

"a contract with no pay raise the first year, only a $2,000 signing bonus, and then pay increases of 1% the second year and 2% a year the following three years."
A 2% pay increase doesn't even keep up with inflation.

Glad this happened so the media and society can stop jerking off to this "humble and charitable" billionaire.

Buffet is just another dipshit with money like Bezos or anyone else of his ilk.

Both Buffett and Sanders are right

Unfortunately in Buffetts case, shareholders own corporations for the most part and call all the shots

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

That's where you are one failing. I know the name. It was your shitty "reference" that made no sense at the time.

EDIT: Just notice you're not the dude who posted at first. Not sure why you're wandering into this.