[speaker001:] okay what would you rather have or you want salary too plus what what's most important to you
[speaker002:] well as far as tangible benefits go I would say that uh health insurance of all forms is probably my next most important concern
[speaker001:] right
[speaker002:] I feel that a company that can provide good health benefits such as health care dental and vision
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] as well as good long term and short term disability plans uh goes a long way toward satisfying my needs
[speaker001:] um-hum well I'll tell you I think that is the most important thing I've uh I'm not working right at the moment but the company that I did work for excuse me I had health benefits you know dental vision all that pension plan um now I don't have that although I do have a pension that I'm drawing from them which thank God I had
[speaker002:] right
[speaker001:] but uh man I think those medical benefits are the most important uh
[speaker002:] you you really don't realize how important they are until you find yourself on the other side of the fence without them and having to cover your own medical and uh you can quickly see where they become a very important part of your of your compensation package
[speaker001:] right um I should knock on wood I haven't you know had any serious health problems or anything I've only probably been to the doctor a couple of times since I left work and it was only for a cold you know and they can't really do anything for you anyhow so you might as well not even go
[speaker002:] yeah they look at you say well you're still breathing so uh
[speaker001:] yeah yeah right oh you've got a cold go home and take uh liquids and uh rest
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] but um that is definitely the most important um pension I guess is next um thank God that I had one I don't know what happened to the salary employees when uh the company went bankrupt but I was union so mine was being put into a like a trust fund you know
[speaker002:] right
[speaker001:] so but I don't know if they ever got anything or if they lost all of theirs or
[speaker002:] I suspect that it just disappeared
[speaker001:] yeah that's what I was thinking too I really feel sorry for all those people that spent all that time there you know
[speaker002:] right
[speaker001:] so where what company do you work for
[speaker002:] um I work for a little start-up company here in Pittsburgh called Trans Arc um
[speaker001:] um um-hum
[speaker002:] have you heard of them
[speaker001:] no
[speaker002:] they we do uh distributive system software
[speaker001:] um-hum um-hum
[speaker002:] for Unix based workstations
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] so
[speaker001:] no I I worked for a trucking company P I E nation wide you probably heard of that
[speaker002:] ah yes yes fact my mom drives trucks so
[speaker001:] oh does she really oh how about that
[speaker002:] yes so yeah I see uh after the merger uh you see a lot of Ryder PIE stuff on the road
[speaker001:] well you did
[speaker002:] so did did Ryder get out of the business is that what happened or
[speaker001:] well Ryder and P I E went together you know and then then that ended it
[speaker002:] right ah so that the merger pretty much ended the whole thing
[speaker001:] it really did it's it started I think a little bit before that but that when P I E and and Ryder went together why it was downhill from then on you know
[speaker002:] yeah and the the problem with that is you know when you leave a job you can continue your benefits for some finite period of time but when when the company goes bankrupt I mean the they're just cut off completely and you're responsible for your own
[speaker001:] right
[speaker002:] and and that's exceedingly expensive
[speaker001:] right yes it was over three hundred fifty dollars a month if we wanted to continue our own benefits we could do that for eighteen months
[speaker002:] right
[speaker001:] but three hundred and fifty dollars a month God that's terrible
[speaker002:] it's definitely excessive
[speaker001:] you know so but anyhow uh and jobs aren't that hard to find to get another one that does pay your benefits you know and a lot of them that if you do get a job they don't pay benefits
[speaker002:] true yeah they're starting to to cut back especially start-ups I know here at Trans Arc we get uh we get health care and that's it and there's no dental or vision
[speaker001:] um-hum um-hum
[speaker002:] and the the short-term disability policy is is a ninety day policy and there is no long term disability policy
[speaker001:] um
[speaker002:] so you know at least in the case of this particular company they tend to scrimp a little bit there
[speaker001:] um-hum um-hum
[speaker002:] and you know of course they can use the excuse well we're a start-up
[speaker001:] yeah right but you know what's happening is the disability plan you know so many people are lying about their things God there's been big articles in the paper about that uh you know they claim a back injury and then someone goes out and spies on them and they're lifting refrigerators into trucks and and everything else you know
[speaker002:] right
[speaker001:] so I don't know what's happening and what's going to happen but uh
[speaker002:] well that certainly doesn't help matters any I mean you you get people who are willing to put their neck on the line to get you you know these additional benefits such
[speaker001:] um