Posted on 11/22/2012 4:15:23 AM PST by tobyhill
After several years of costly concessions, the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco and Grain Millers Union (BCTGM) authorized a walk-out earlier this month after Hostess received bankruptcy court approval to implement a wage cut that was not included in its contract.
With operations stalled, the company that makes Twinkies and other famous U.S. brands said last week that liquidating its business was the best way to preserve its dwindling cash. It won court approval on Wednesday to start winding down in a process expected to claim 15,000 jobs immediately and over 3,000 more after about four months.
Interviews with more than a dozen workers showed there was little sign of regret from employees who voted for the strike. They said they would rather lose their jobs than put up with lower wages and poorer benefits.
"They're just taking from us," said Kenneth Johnson, 46, of Missouri. He said he earned roughly $35,000 with overtime last year, down from about $45,000 five years ago.
"I really can't afford to not be working, but this is not worth it. I'd rather go work somewhere else or draw unemployment," said Johnson, a worker at Hostess for 23 years.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Disgusting given that when life started for me as a recent entry to the postal service, my wife as an accountant makes more than I do, but she demands, thankfully, and expects thankfully, that I work really hard to contribute. Frankly, a good man should seek a good wife like that who expects him to work hard more than earn plenty of money.
The Brave Pioneers of the Healthcare Exchange... Has an Orwellian ring to it.
That's more than my paycheck and it's way more than unskilled labor should be making. Whatever happened with the true meaning of minimum wage? Minimum skills should only get you minimum wages. Watching to make sure the Twinkies package is properly sealed doesn't require that many brain cells. Fine, fire him and hire someone who wants to work.
Liquidate. It is a good thing, and will shed the blood sucking unions from a quality that will survive.
Dismantle, and sell the assets, which are assets because of the quality of the product. And that will live on. The intellectual property, recipes , the legal rights are all protected property of the owners, and a new company will buy and transfer that property away from the unions, and produce Twinkies and the other successful products again, as good as ever and probably at less expense to the consumer.
Count on it, and thank God.
What are those liquidation bonuses??? I haven’t seen the number.
not such a bad gig if you can get it...
Twinkies were out and out junk and crap. They tasted so artificial. But I liked the Hostess Snowballs when I was little. Chocolate cake in a stretchy marshmallow coconut wrapper.
Looks like the Hostess workers are looking forward to and like the idea of getting two or more years of Obama style extended unemployment benefits. So the taxpayers will be supporting these leeches
Is there any pension for these guys or is that all gone too.
Maybe it sounds cruel, but people can earn what they're worth if they put some effort into it. Unions tend to kill that progress in people.
“The dude said he’d rather draw unemployment than work for more money ?????”
Welcome to Obama’s America. The Bible says there are no tears in Heaven. Still... What must our Christian forefathers be thinking to see what their country has become?
Bold statements now, let’s hear from them again in a year.
Unions wanted Obama and now they are
too ckicken$h1T to admit whos really responsible for this
disaster. Sorry to say but the unions have to go.
I think Unions were good when they started but they went down hill from about 1970 til today. I think they know who is to blame deep down.
Proof that Democrats would rather have welfare and food stamps than jobs.
They made their wish come true.
A gang of Teamsters should hang around the last work day and take these idiots for a ride.
Here’s the other thing. To keep thier health care it will have to be COBRA and you have to pay a pretty good lick to keep it in force.
These people are not thinking things through at all.
“It sure beats having to work for a living.” - Old union motto
sad but true..my daughter is one of them..she moved home to live off my retirement.
Wish granted!
Yea, really. It should be zero weeks because those idiots quit when given an ultimatum.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.