Posted on 04/29/2013 9:01:07 AM PDT by Shout Bits
Today's fun story is the return of Twinkies, due in stores this summer. Less fun for Pres. Obama's labor agenda is that Hostess's new owner is not hiring union labor to bake and deliver its products. Because the former Hostess liquidated in bankruptcy several months ago, no labor contracts exist between Hostess and powerful unions such as the Teamsters. The steady decline of private sector unions is nothing new, but the Hostess restructuring is a test case for unions and Obama's ability to repay them for their support.
Pres. Obama's latest nemesis –Twinkie The Kid
Obama is a union man, and there is hardly a sliver of daylight between his agenda and the unions' (a notable exception is the Keystone XL pipeline). During his reign, SEIU's Andy Stern was the most frequent White House visitor – during a time Obama was reported to be restoring the US economy, closing Gitmo, and ending two wars. AFL-CIO's Richard Trumka brags about having Obama on speed-dial. Obama knows that while Black and environmentalist voters are his base of enthusiasm and good PR, unions are his base of money. The decline of private sector union power is a serious threat to Obama and Democrats power. Obama has made union organizing easier by redefining entire industries regulatory structure (e.g. FedEx) and by illegally appointing union activists to the NLRB. Obama has made union organizing faster by eliminating most of the time companies would have to state their case for open shops. Obama is paying back decades of unrewarded union support to Democrats.
The unions' and Obama's problem is that most workers do not want union jobs. Union jobs are in decline, so anyone who wants job stability steers clear. Further, union hostility toward free markets and the GOP must irritate at least some working class families. In any event, manufacturing is growing in the US, but not in union shops. Obama and V.P. Biden may claim to have saved the auto industry, but the non-union auto factories in the South never needed saving.
The unanswered question of unionism is whether current union members would like to continue to pay dues earmarked for Democrat politicians. Once union, a shop rarely goes back. The union system ostracizes anyone who does not toe the line, which means union halls shutter only when companies shut down too.
Hostess offers an unusual test case as to whether union members really appreciate their unions. The new Hostess will reopen previously union factories, including one in Illinois. Almost certainly some workers will be rehired, albeit without union representation, and they will be free to organize. No doubt, the unions that represented the old Hostess's various trades will seek to organize the new Hostess. Look for complaints before the NLRB, picket lines, and a little help from Obama and the Old Media. Expect the New York Times to report that Hostess has cut worker pay, benefits, and rights, ignoring that the old system drove Hostess to liquidation.
Given the high visibility of the Twinkie The Kid returning to gas stations around the US, the failure to unionize Hostess would be a major blow to unions and Obama's credibility with them. The new Hostess is a clear-cut experiment as to whether workers and communities really want unions. Do workers see unions as allies or the fools who cost them their jobs in the first place? The labor flacks at Obama's White House are surely working overtime to prevent a disaster in their money base.
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Why would they? It was the Unions that killed Twinkie the Kid in the first place. One thing Unions are succesful at is killing businesses!
Why let Twinkie the Kid grab all the glory? Don’t forget Captain Cupcake and Fruit Pie the Magician. I do hope that the blueberry pies are brought back. They were discontinued before the end.
Hope the new owners make it WELL known they will relocate production to mexico at the first sign unions will retake a shop.
There are many ways.
It is illegal to relocate for the purpose of avoiding a union contract, even out of the country. By reopening in a union state like IL, the owners are making a bold bet that the factories can’t be organized.
So the new Hostess is going non-union? Mental note to self to buy a box or two as soon as they start appearing in stores again...
I know. that’s why I said ‘there ways’ and there are.
“Obama is a union man”
Not really. Whatever we think of unions a majority of their membership are gainfully employed even if they are slothful and worse.
Obama hasn’t had a job and certainly wouldn’t put up with having HIS pocket picked to pay union dues.
Edit ‘there ARE ways”...
Send a few people to bars in the area off the record. Let Obama prove a connection without POing everyone and creating a Dem PR nightmare.
I thought Barney Frank had retired from Congress.
Or just open in a state like Texas. Tell the unions to go eff themselves.
If Obama was a “union guy” he would have crammed thru Card Check when he had the chance.
As it stands the AFL-CIO may decide their last chance is to take their ball and go home (hello, American Labo(u)r Party)
LOL
The Unions would rather see this company go broke rather than non-Union. I hope the company is prepared for a fight.
They Unions would rather see people with no jobs rather than non-union jobs.
Obama has stated that card check is a priority on several occasions. However, he knows he does not have nearly enough votes in the Senate.
The unions started the bleeding but incompetent management delivered the death blow. Their expenses included almost 60% for overhead & administrative costs. If the union workers had worked for free Hostess would have still gone under.
Why would Obama expend the political capital to do that? The unions are going to vote dem no matter what. Why waste the effort?
When I saw that the coal miners union was supporting Al Gore for president I knew that trying to attract votes there, like Reagan had, was nearly hopeless.
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