Posted on 04/23/2015 3:18:15 PM PDT by jimbo123
Look into the sugar industry on the big island of HI. UNions never feel bad. They exit leaving destruction behind. It’s the people who must clean up and start again Luckily for the few left with jobs — Forward thinking but the jobs are still gone
This is the real story. They are producing these junk food treats with about 10% of the former number of workers. Not just robotics but automation and computerization.
Robotics is automation and use of computers to control the machines. It’s not C3PO. Some of the new diesel factories in our area need personal with advanced engineering- computer skills to run the lines. All the training provided by the company of course. Better pay than those who spent 4 years getting degrees and still having to be trained on the job
Just going by memory, I’d say they were 10 percent
smaller too and the center isn’t as good either.
Growing up there was a Hostess plant in my town. It closed about 1980. We had a few bakery plants in my town, non are opened now.
There is hope for the world.
Chocodiles!
Great! And the unemployed Obama voter rabble will spend their Obama-money (your taxes) on Hostess Twinkies. A virtuous circle. And if they gorge on enough Twinkies and Cheetos and grape soda while watching their 52” flat screen they can go report to their free Obama-Kare. Your taxes hard at work there too.
New...1 factory. 500 workers. 400 million cakes/year
Old...14 factories. 9,000 workers. 400 million cakes/year
That is astonishing! Labor is so screwed. When do they start smashing robots?
Ya, those dummies...But now those 5000 are now on the payroll of we the taxpayers...And the new twinkster employees get food stamps and other benefits that YOU and I pay for...
There's a reason the Republicans are called the stupid party...
Unfortunately, Drake’s is not faring as well. Funny Bones are missing in action, as far as I can tell. Also, where are the Blueberry Hostess Fruit Pies?
New...1 factory. 500 workers. 400 million cakes/year
Old...14 factories. 9,000 workers. 400 million cakes/year
That is astonishing! Labor is so screwed. When do they start smashing robots?
We should call this free market phenomena something: the Sno Ball Effect, the Ding Dong Upshot, the Fruit Pie Imperative?
Well-written piece.
I saw it all. A link at upper right read “continue to article.”
But the liquidation had washed away everything. Yes, the company was gone, but so were the pension costs, the union contracts and the debt.
What was left was a brand with incredible name recognition and a product whose manufacture could be automated. A product whose defiantly unhealthy nature appeals to the nostalgic and the ironic. It's a cultural perfect storm as well as a business one.
Naturally this is all a little difficult on those who lost their jobs and their pensions. It is not stated how much the union has come forward to save the latter. Anyone who does know, I'd love to be informed. Did the unions really kill the company? No, but they did deliver the final blow. But I cannot imagine what concessions they could have made to effect the transformation of the old, net-loss model into the new profitable one. One job in 18 was, after all, what came out of the thing. That would have been one heck of a concession.
But the upshot was none out of 18, which is worse. It isn't stated whether the new shops are union shops but given the track record I'd guess the new employees would be insane to try it.
That’s 80% of Hostess’ total output–output that under the old regime required 14 plants and 9,000 employees.
Wow...
you get it!!!!!!
more to the point, most of those 9K employees were probably un necessary. I’m sure many were prevented from say, adding a bag of flour to a hopper and had a guy just standing around for 20 minutes waiting to add the next bag.
I started up a large coal fired boiler in Arizona in the mid 70s. A simple job I could have done in 60 minutes required seven trades to work with me — carpenters to put planks up; boilermakers; pipe fitters to disconnect a small cooling line; electricians to put up a simple drop light; mill wrights to disconnect a mechanical coupling; instrument guys; laborers to sweep up; and one other I’m forgetting. It took us at least half a day. A job that should have cost the plant owner less than $50 of my time cost them at least 25x that amount. I got introduced to labor unions up close and personal at a young age.
It sure sounds like the Hostess plants were like that.
The new Hostess owner is going to make some serious margins if they charge the old prices and have cut costs as much as it seems.
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