Here is what you sill unions did to pump profits to workers while disabling profits by the company:
“The Teamsters contract stipulates that Wonderbread and Twinkies going to the SAME STORE must be delivered in DIFFERENT trucks driven by DIFFERENT drivers and unloaded by the APPROPRIATE driver.”
Unions: Stupid beyond words. I count that action as money to the union, not just their dues, but money they demand the company pays in silly crap like this. How much money did each truck and driver cost all in the name of the union? Huh? How much? Too much, and you defend that crap.
“How much? Too much, and you defend that crap.”
I don’t recall ever making a comment supporting union work rules creating inefficiency for the company.
Have you considered the union contract and work rules were agreed to by management? Union contracts are the product of a negotiation between management and labor, they are not imposed by the union. Have you considered the fact this is the second time Hostess filed for bankruptcy. It also declared bankruptcy on September 22, 2004 when it was operated under the name Interstate Bakeries. It did not emerge from bankruptcy until February 2009. The union workers made concessions at the time in exchange for equity in the reorganized company. During the bankruptcy the workforce declined from 32,000 to 22,000 employees. In January 2012, when it filed for bankruptcy again, it had 19,000 employees.
If this company is well managed, why has it gone through bankruptcy twice in ten years? If union work rules, pay rates, and high cost benefit plans were the major cause of the company not being able to make money, why didn’t management get the bankruptcy court order greater union concessions the first time the company went into bankruptcy? If the company’s union plants were not competitive, why didn’t the company outsource production to more efficient contract bakeries? Many American companies have successfully outsourced production to lower production costs.
Contrary to your statements I am not a fan of unions. It has been my experience running manufacturing companies that employees turn to unions when they are poorly managed. If employees are paid competitively, have decent working conditions, and are supervised fairly it is very difficult for unions to force their way in. When management underpays versus competition, working conditions are poor, and management is abusive the workplace becomes fertile for organization by a union.
Two bankruptcies in ten years suggest Hostess is a troubled company. Based on the press reports I’ve read to date I perceive the union was foolish to strike in January of this year and refuse concessions given the state of the company. However, I don’t know the working conditions the Hostess workers faced everyday, I don’t know if the supervision of these union employees was good or abusive, I don’t know if the workers were overpaid or underpaid versus competition, and I don’t know if the management of the company was making poor decisions in other facets of the business which were complicating matters or alienating the workers. I also don’t know what concessions the union gave when the company exited bankruptcy in 2009 and if the promises made to the workers at that time by management were delivered. Without that knowledge it is difficult for me to lay 100% of the blame on the union for the liquidation of the company. I just don’t have the facts, perhaps you do.