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Hawfuh_Hater, on May 07 2012 - 02:37 PM, said:
I was looking for something else on teamster.org, when I noticed a couple of articles about the “Unity conference” that is happening now in Las Vegas. But the IBT stories disagree with themselves as to how many Teamsters are now in Las Vegas. One story says “more than 1,500 Teamsters”, while a different story says 2,000. I'll split the difference and guess that there are 1,800 Teamsters there. I'm trying to come up with a number so I can make a rough calculation of how much of our dues money is being wasted on the partying, golfing, and poker playing in Las Vegas.
1,800 Teamsters. A few live in Las Vegas. Some others, such as maybe those in the Los Angeles area, live close enough where they could easily drive to Las Vegas. But the vast majority flies in on a plane. I'll take a wild guess, and put the average cost of round trip transportation at $300 per person. That adds up to $540,000 in transportation expenses.
Then there are hotel rooms. They are certainly not sharing hotel rooms. So that's 1,800 hotel rooms per night, times...I'll say the average stay is four nights. The IBT website states that the cost for each night at Bally's is $89 a night, and the cost if they stay at the adjoining Paris Hotel is $149 per night. I'll take a guess that the vast majority will not be staying at the Paris. Maybe I'm wrong. But I'll put the average room rate at $95 per night. So 1,800 times 4 nights each is 7,200 room-nights. 7,200 times $95 per room-night equals $684,000!
Then there is per diem. Ya know, "meal money". The IBT constitution states that per diem is $100 per day. $100 times 7,200 room nights equals $720,000!
I will take a guess and assume that Bally's gives the Teamsters the free use of meeting rooms because of all of the guest rooms the Teamsters are paying for. Maybe I'm wrong.
But assuming that there is no extra cost for the meeting rooms, or audio/video equipment, or anything else besides hotel rooms, travel costs, and per diem, let's add this up:
Transportation.....$540,000
Hotel rooms........$684,000
Per diem............$720,000
______________________
Total................$1,944,000
So very roughly, this party for the Hofficers is costing you, me, and the other dues paying members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters about two million dollars!!!
But every five years at the Teamsters convention the reformers have to listen to the same old crap about the money wasted on an election. To me, this “Unity conference” is the waste. If there really is a need for a gigantic discussion, haven't they heard of video conferencing?
1,800 Teamsters. A few live in Las Vegas. Some others, such as maybe those in the Los Angeles area, live close enough where they could easily drive to Las Vegas. But the vast majority flies in on a plane. I'll take a wild guess, and put the average cost of round trip transportation at $300 per person. That adds up to $540,000 in transportation expenses.
Then there are hotel rooms. They are certainly not sharing hotel rooms. So that's 1,800 hotel rooms per night, times...I'll say the average stay is four nights. The IBT website states that the cost for each night at Bally's is $89 a night, and the cost if they stay at the adjoining Paris Hotel is $149 per night. I'll take a guess that the vast majority will not be staying at the Paris. Maybe I'm wrong. But I'll put the average room rate at $95 per night. So 1,800 times 4 nights each is 7,200 room-nights. 7,200 times $95 per room-night equals $684,000!
Then there is per diem. Ya know, "meal money". The IBT constitution states that per diem is $100 per day. $100 times 7,200 room nights equals $720,000!
I will take a guess and assume that Bally's gives the Teamsters the free use of meeting rooms because of all of the guest rooms the Teamsters are paying for. Maybe I'm wrong.
But assuming that there is no extra cost for the meeting rooms, or audio/video equipment, or anything else besides hotel rooms, travel costs, and per diem, let's add this up:
Transportation.....$540,000
Hotel rooms........$684,000
Per diem............$720,000
______________________
Total................$1,944,000
So very roughly, this party for the Hofficers is costing you, me, and the other dues paying members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters about two million dollars!!!
But every five years at the Teamsters convention the reformers have to listen to the same old crap about the money wasted on an election. To me, this “Unity conference” is the waste. If there really is a need for a gigantic discussion, haven't they heard of video conferencing?
