Union Sticks It to Hostess and Leaves Workers Jobless

Realville, USA ^ | Nov 16, 2012 | Ombud

[SquarePants]

I guess there was a time when unions did some good. I know my great grandfather was a big supporter of them, but frankly I can't see where they do anything good at all anymore. From the time I was a kid, all I've ever understood about them was that they're associated with organized crime, and they're physically violent and proud of it. But over the last couple of years I've learned a little bit more, and I have to say I'm not at all enthusiastic about what I've seen.

First it was SEIU union thugs tossing beatdowns at TEA Partiers, and Democrat Congressmen letting them shout down citizens at constituent forums. Then it was the teacher's union in Wisconsin, trashing their statehouse and generally acting like a bunch of lawless creeps who I wouldn't trust with my children for a minute. Now it's a union killing their own employer and one of America's most ubiquitous brands.

The last couple of days I kept hearing about how Hostess management said they would be forced to cease operations and liquidate the company's assets if the union wouldn't agree to a deal. I figured it would be like most other labor disputes, with brinksmanship being tempered by the obvious reality that the workers would be better off with a job than with nothing at all.

But I was wrong. The unions decided to let their last hope of saving anyone's jobs go, and now the company looks like they'll be liquidated, and every single employee will lose their job. Amazing. Stating that the company doesn't have the resources to weather an extended strike, Hostess CEO Gregory Rayburn announced today that everyone's losing their jobs, and the company's assets will be sold. Big win for the union, I guess, but it's a huge loss for the 18,000 workers. Correction. Ex-workers.

The most mystifying thing about is that most likely Twinkies and Ding-Dongs and their related products will survive. The product brands will be sold, and we probably won't have to suffer any type of interruption in our Twinkie supply, thank God. The ownership will get screwed, of course, having to sell the brands for whatever they can get. But the biggest losers are the workers. With unemployment at 8% and likely to go higher based on all the layoff announcements I've seen the past couple of weeks, how many of these workers do you ecpect to find jobs at all, much less better jobs?

To everyone's great relief, the union bigwigs who caused it all will be ok. None of them are likely to lose their jobs, and they'll no doubt prance on, free to create more suffering at whatever lucky company gets to host their next shakedown. I wonder how many of the people in that picture up top had any idea how successful they'd be at "sticking it to the man?" Somehow I doubt this is the outcome they wanted.

I'm not sure what the deal was that the Hostess workers' union rejected, but I have to wonder if the union bigwigs feel like their workers are somehow better off with another 18,000 of them out of work. Well, they got what they wanted.

[cunning_fish]

++++Until such a time as welfare monies run out. I hope I’m wrong, but I foresee a day when we have rioting in our streets.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

C’mon. Less welfare money for state = more burden on industries = lesser wages for honest employees = lesser welfare money considered acceptable by freeloaders to make them happy (cheaper) Dem voters. This policy may allow them to twice Obamabot ranks per same allowance.

[umgud]

My employer doesn’t discriminate against minorities, women, the aged, but if your work history shows you were in a union, you’re not going to get hired.

[OrangeHoof]

You wouldn’t think the Administration and liberals would be crowing at the news. Aren’t these food nazis always trying to put “empty calorie snack foods” out of business because of alleged links to obesity, etc.? This should be a big victory for Moochelle and the gang.

So what if a small city no longer has jobs anymore? We got twinkies and ding dongs out of the mouths of children and that should be cause to celebrate for any food nazi statist.

[GeronL]

How many or how few “Oven Operator” positions will these people be competing for, 40?

[To Hell With Poverty]

Either that or Obama will move in to nationalize it and give a sizeable stake to the union, like at GM.

[Ezekiel]

Unions long ago passed their hour of need and drove manufacturing elsewhere.

I figured that at the rate they drive jobs overseas and send American workers to the bread lines, their real money is in overseas sweatshop operations and collecting political rewards (e.g. more union contracts) for creating and nurturing welfare-dependent Demoncrat voters. And as an extra bonus, the sweatshop escapees flood the border looking for better than slave wages, thereby driving up the Demoncrat voter rolls even further.

[machogirl]

Sadly, I agree.

[usconservative]

The most worthless by far are the government employee unions.

Got me there!

[GeronL]

They rejected 25%

[Revolting cat!]

Let’ nationalize. Government Hostess! How’s that sound? Next step government twenny dollar cathouses, division of... Government Hostess!

[babyfreep]

“And these are the direct impacts, what about the in-direct hits to other businesses and vendors?”

My company will lose revenue. Hostess was one of our larger supplier accounts.

[Eva]

Rush said today that there are indications that the union is counting on the Obama administration stepping and taking over the bankruptcy and eventually turning the company over to the union. We will have Government Hostess, GH

… no we already have a government hostess in Florida, her name is Jill Kelley.

[gemoftheocean]

When I was 15 years old and a sophomore our teacher told us that when he was in his teens he had a job where the idiot union bosses held out for WEEKS for a fricken NICKLE raise. [My teacher was smart enough to quit to find another job] - The teacher said “those idiots never figured out that the wages they lost for being without work for weeks never filtered through the union thug’s stupid heads.” He said that there had been times where the unions had their place and did some good — (he was talking about things like the abuses of the triangle shirt waist factory, etc. — and owners cutting corners with safety issues) -— but he’d been amazed at the sheer stupidity of some of them — especially the so-called union leaders. Another friend of mine’s grandfather had been a founding member of the New York Iron worker’s union. HE eventually quit because he said that a lot of the union leaders were “As corrupt as some of the bas***d owners we were trying to fight.”

[HiTech RedNeck]

It would only be symbolic; generics will fill up the slack pretty quickly.

By the way a frozen Twinkie or generic creme filled sponge cake bar is pretty nice.

[HiTech RedNeck]

You mean you supplied to Hostess?

[2010Freeper]

Hostess wanted employees to take an 8% pay cut. Now the employees are out 100% while the union management risked NOTHING. During 2013-2014 the unions are going to suffer membership dues as laid off employees contribute nothing.

[Eva]

My mother used to work for Wonder Bread. She was the comptometer operator/bookeeper, who balanced all the receipts and kept all the books for the drivers. They weren’t the brightest group in the world and she had to do all the book keeping for them.

She did keep the bread drawer stocked with hostess products, though. At that time, they also had a line of restaurant products, like a strawberry short cake that was loaded with whipped cream and strawberries. It was probably the same cake that was in the twinkies and the pies were probably the same as the fried pies that they sold individually, except baked instead fried.

She kept the drawer for me because I was so severely under weight that the doctor told her to feed me whatever I would eat. Mostly we ate the brownies. Twinkies were never a favorite.

[logic101.net]

The sad thing is that most of the employees voted to accept new contracts. One hold out union decided to screw everyone. With the exception of Trump people don't go into bankruptcy for kicks. The majority of the workers knew the company was in serious trouble and were willing to help. Most of them were Teamsters (I'm a withdrawn member). The Teamsters got a wake up call after CF went under; they realized that if they kill off all the host critters they will have nothing to feed on. Some unions don't get that fact. Public sector unions are the worst, but UAW is very bad and so is it seems the bakery worker's union. I do feel for the people who lost their jobs due to competing unions; I was a Meat Cutter 20 yrs ago and lost my good paying job because of the strike vote of the grocery worker's union. Eventually the whole chain went under, but us skilled workers w/o much seniority got let go first.

[babyfreep]

No...I work with data flows between retailers and suppliers. (costs, sales, deliveries, invoices) I am the middle man. They are the “supplier” to me. I guess I should have explained better. :-)

[HiTech RedNeck]

oh so like a wholesale person