Posted on 11/17/2012 10:28:20 AM PST by matt04
Labor leaders in Maine say the resilience of the Hostess workers on the picket line at the companys Biddeford plant, which is in the process of being shut down after the company on Friday said it would liquidate the business, gives them inspiration in the face of what they believe have been ongoing efforts by politicians, including Gov. Paul LePage, and corporate investors to reduce union influence.
Bakers union officials and their supporters say also that the demise of Hostess Brands Inc., which failed to convince striking workers to return to their jobs, is a warning sign for corporate investors seeking to squeeze more profits out of the working class.
Unions have been losing power for years, said Ken Rumney, a striking worker outside of the Hostess plant in Biddeford on Friday. This is an exceptional case. If Hostess had been allowed to get away with what theyd been trying to do, other corporations would have lined up to try the same tactics. Hopefully, this will be an example to other companies not to [try to] break their unions.
I think were the first ones who have stood up and said, Were not going to let you get away with it, said Sue Tapley, the strike captain on hand Friday morning at the Biddeford plant, which employed nearly 600 people. You can fight them. You can shut them down.
(Excerpt) Read more at bangordailynews.com ...
Let them eat bread?
Well have to check on them in a couple of years and see how they are doing.
I hope they kept their picket signs, their going to need something to burn to keep warm this winter. As*holes
Here in Florida they are closing all the day old bread stores which sold bread and other bakery items from Hostess so its not just the union its allot of other small business suffering because of the greedy unions.
Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.
They are just trying to spreading the misery equally to everyone.
Yes, isn’t that amazing? Now they can be “inspired” to find another job....stunning!!
Older folks on disability and fixed incomes who depended on day-old bread to stretch their food dollars were wondering where they could go now for low-cost bread. A lot of folks seemed clueless as to how this happened, but there were a few, maybe 20%, some even union members, who were attributing it correctly to union greediness and to the upcoming jolt to business of new employment costs.
We were handing out flyers (selectively -- to those who looked teachable) with links to websites explaining the upcoming costs of Obamacare and the effects they have on the costs of employment. While these 18,500 workers just joined the unemployed, restaurant workers just had their income slashed by 25% as companies like Denny's and Red Lobster and Papa John's cut their 40-hour work week to 30 to avoid the Obamacare tax. Another lie by this administration that millionaires would be the ones feeling the pain, not the poor.
It depends on the state. There are some states that won't pay unemployment for workers that went on strike. They consider it the same thing as quiting.
“Unions have been losing power for years,” said Ken Rumney, a striking worker outside of the Hostess plant in Biddeford on Friday. “This is an exceptional case. If Hostess had been allowed to get away with what they'd been trying to do, other corporations would have lined up to try the same tactics. Hopefully, this will be an example to other companies not to [try to] break their unions.” [emphasis added]Has Ken let the cat out of the bag? Was this in fact a nationally-orchestrated chess move using Hostess, its employees, and supply chain as pawns in a larger game of union dominance? Where is the breach-of-trust line crossed between the members of the local and the union management chain? For that matter, by "nationalizing" the fight, was the union negotiating with Hostess in good faith? This could be a whole new ambulance to chase!
What utter morons. They don't yet realize that the entire country is going to see the unions as the blood suckers who murdered one of America's favorite companies.
This is the worst public relations stunt they could have possibly pulled. They'll be reviled and spat upon for years to come for what they did to Hostess and the 18,000 people who's jobs they killed during this economic crisis.
Not only that for some reason this idiot thinks they are the first to do this. Unions have been closing companies do to unfair demands since they came into existence. I worked for a lumber company that was started in 1945, I started to work there in 1962 after I got out of the army, worked there until in 1998 a sale to a new owner caused him to shut it down to do the Union leasers that refused to renegotiate a new contract. Cost 600 jobs. Now in the mills place there are "service" jobs that pay a small percentage of what the Mill jobs paid, no health insurance and fewer people employed. Plus a bunch of auto dealers moved in and promptly went belly up, no one to buy their cars. A bunch of empty dealership lots sit in the place of some of the old mill buildings.
The Union members that worked there do not have the attitude that "we showed 'em" most of them say that when they drive by the old mill site they feel like crying.
I saw some Tweets that for many hours that the bakers union website was mysteriously down for “maintenance,” right after it really became know that they alone were responsible for the demise of Hostess. By “maintenance” I believe they were referring to the less than supportive emails and calls they were probably getting.
Next week may be Black Friday but sweets lovers across the nation hung their heads in sorrow on a dark Friday yesterday as Hostess announced they would cease making their line of products, which include the iconic Twinkies brand, because of the Bakers Union Strike.
I've been trying to research this and all I've found on the web are links to the uber-leftie sites who use this to justify union actions
Question 1:, Is this factoid true? (Execs gave themselves a huge Raise
Question 2: If true, why did the execs do this?
Question 3: If it's not true, how can we kill this meme that execs killed the company not the union
Thanks In advance
Okay, I'll be more specific. My venom is directed at the unions, both their elitist leaders and their clueless rank and file that support them. I have witnessed unionist mentality taking down companies time and again. Remember Eastern Airlines? A pox on them! However, I am sorry for their victims, such as your son. I can only hope that any illusions the victims may have had about their unionist coworkers have been dispelled. My vitriol is reserved for the union thugs -- I hope they starve. Better?
Much better, thank you.
I agree these pieces of crap deserve nothing. They quit they walked off of their jobs and put their company out of business. Now the Maine unemployment compensation board are breaking the rules and giving these bums unemployment. This would not happen for anybody else who refused work. Anybody else would be denied because they refused work or chose not to work. Anybody else who turned down even an hour for minimum wage would not be eligible what make these bums so special. Not only did they five up their jobs they lost every job that would have been held there in the future. I also hope that who ever takes over that plant refuses to hire anyone that walked off for fear that the poor babies would do the same thing to me. Then they want us to feel more sorry for them because it is the holiday season they knew what time that it was when they quit.
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