 Is this the end for Twinkies? Hostess Brands said Wednesday that it will go into liquidation unless bakers striking in protest against a new contract imposed in bankruptcy court return to work by the end of the day Thursday. "We simply do not have the financial resources to survive an ongoing national strike," Hostess CEO Greg Rayburn said in a statement. The liquidation would result in Hostess' nearly 18,000 workers losing their jobs. The bakers' union represents around 5,000. "Our members are on strike because they have had enough," bakers' union president Frank Hurt said in a statement Tuesday. "They are not willing to take draconian wage and benefit cuts on top of the significant concessions they made in 2004 and give up their pension so that the Wall Street vulture capitalists in control of this company can walk away with millions of dollars." Read - Hostess to liquidate if bakers' strike continues through Thursday Previously - Stay gold, Twinkie the Kid. Stay gold. and Take my snack cakes? Over my blinded, bloated body! |
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One would think that the recent laws in Washington and Colorado would have given these people hope.
That aside, it's nice to see that the big corporations are fulfilling their god-given duty as job creators. ...Oh wait.
Medical supply giant Stryker is the latest company to announce job cuts in
anticipation of coming costs associated with ObamaCare, even though the
man who inherited a fortune from the company's founder is a fan.
The company will cut 1,170 jobs, or five percent of its worldwide
workforce, despite the fact that the founder's grandson was one of the
largest contributors to President Obama’s re-election campaign. Medical
tech scion Jon Stryker, whose net worth is currently estimated at $1.2
billion, contributed $2 million to the Priorities USA Action super PAC
and has given $66,000 in contributions to Obama and the Democratic
Party.
A "medical device excise tax" included in the mandate imposes a 2.3
percent levy on medical device manufacturers and suppliers, which
critics say will raise prices on everything from pacemakers to
prosthetics to stents. Companies will be required to pay the tax
regardless if they have a profit or loss for the year. The tax is
estimated to cost the medical device industry $20 billion.
The rise and fall of the Teamsters USA.Demands after demands and big capitalist corporations that are in business like all businesses to provide a huge profit-are telling America's unions they have had enough.So-here we have a situation in which both sides have leveraged them selves out of work over who gets the bigger piece of the pie.
The ones who vested millions to build an empire on the workers backs or the workers who have pushed and clawed their way into the spotlight to get the respect and earnings they feel they deserve.
Now only those with the millions to gain or lose will have the last laugh and profit on the way out the door as 18.000 lose their jobs.Bravo to both sides! Greed has crushed the Twinkie and Hoho empires.
Ummmm, you may want to do a little reading – the Teamsters had AGREED to management terms – it was the bakers union that threw the monkey wrench into it.
Also – let me ask you a question – everyone says – we have to cut wages – we have to keep our jobs. But how far down can you go? At what point do you draw the line? Everryone I know has a floor of income they cannot go under – basically make housing payments (house or apartment), utility payments (elctricity), clothing and food. Note that I have excluded luxury items like phone, etc. To sit there and say that workers can constantly bear the brunt of management missteps is a bit ridculous.
If you don't like your wage vote with your feet. If you can't find a better paying job then maybe that's all the wage you are qualified to earn. Try improving your skill set.
trust me, even if ownership gave the laborers what they are askin for. Ownership would still have a larger slice of the pie. Love people who believe the workers are at fault in anyway. If ownership was already making let's say 10 million profit (just makin up numbers here) and they could up that by 2 mil to 12 million profit but it meant takin away all the workers benefits, having a work force unhappy and less productive with no recent pay raise to keep up with inflation they (ownership ) would do it. WHY you ask? because they are greedy vultures just like the union says. PERIOD! to all you capitalists out there ...just shut your collective faces. watch...there will be plenty of twinkies to buy...they will probably close down a while -reoped as lets say- hostess2 and rehire thousands of non skilled illegal mexicans and continue on like nothing ever happened. Par for the course. with more money comes greed. history has shown us this over and over. TRUE capitalism does not work! period!!
Winston – "Tell him about the Twinkie"
Venkman – "What about the Twinkie?"
it's not wether you like twinkies or not.......the matter here is exactly what was stated, " the wall street vulture capitalists says it all." It will be the fall of this nation in some time. Small business's disapear, only the largest survive and even eliminate each other when they already have become part of monopoly's scattered across the country. Computers are already eliminating jobs across the board ....one day the few rich will be burned at the stake ...robbed, tortured and so on...by the masses of poor created by this so called wonderful thing of ours...known as "CAPITALISM" you will see all of you....
The collective waistline of the United States of America just shrunk.
No more Twinkies!? This is an outrage! A national calamity! This can't be happening! I guess the hammer has fallen and the end has finally come! We shall forever mourn the loss of the hallowed Twinkie! Waaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!! ;op
The Mayans were right!!!! It is the end of the world as we know it! ;)
and I feel fine
OMG !! A Union will make the say for 5000, and affect 18,000 by being stinkers !!!??? WAKE UP !!!!! I believe the Union needs to think about something other than money !!!! 18,000 people out of work ??? STUPID STUPID STUPID !!!!!
Hostess was going under anyways. They were trying to steal the union pension fund.
Not to worry ! you can buy all the twinkies out want on EBAY ! they are only $100 bucks
No They are a million dollars now lol
If I am going to give my kids a sugar bomb, I would rather feed my kids a couple of fresh baked Timbits. But anyhow, lets talk more about the number of CEOs at Hostess in the last decade and exactly how much those CEOs earned and what kinds of golden parachutes they received while the company continued to decline and while workers were continually squeezed for the survival of the company.
And what do the union officers, like the union president make? And are they out of a job?
Yes the CEO received a pay increase from 750,000 to 2,500,000 in the past year... However that 2,500,000 a year for a CEO of a major company is still kind of a joke. It also wasn't going to account for saving the company had the CEO not gotten that raise.
I'm going to buy some Twinkies and give them to my twelve-year-old grandson, so he can give them to his grandkids. With all the preservatives in them, they'll survive the next Ice Age.
July 6, 2347: Archaeologists unearthed the ruins of an underground dwelling in the area formerly called "The Midwest." What appeared to be booby-traps guarding a large cabinet had long rusted away. In the cabinet were 700 small yellow "cakes" filled with a white substance. One of the archeologists took a risk and bit into one of the cakes, and reported that it still was fluffy and tasted good. Scientists are puzzled.
I knew some science graduate students that had a tradition of giving a new lab member a twinkie to keep when they joined the group. They had to eat it when they got their PhD several years later. It was great motivation to stay on track with your research and get your thesis written in a timely fashion....
I agree. They should fossilize nicely. I imagine people of the far future opening a time capsule filled with fossil twinkies. I wonder if they'll know what they were used for? Imagine all the theories that will crop up to try to describe what those little yellow rock hard twinkie thingies were for? ;oD
August 12, 2351: Scientists report they have finally deduced the purpose of the mysterious "Yellow Cakes With White Filling" which were unearthed several years ago in "The Midwest." Fragments of contemporaneous records, coordinated with the ultra-high security surrounding the objects, make it obvious they were part of an elaborate religious ritual.
It's already happening, I stopped by the store this morning and all of the boxes of Twinkies were gone. They had a few boxes of the chocolate filled Twinkies but to me, those are not true Twinkies.
The last time I had one I was 12, playing outside daily and delivering newspapers. Now I am almost 40, and the thought of eating one makes me want to throw up.
Apparently legalization of marijuana came too late to save Hostess..
LOL...good one. :)
Oh, cruel Fate... How you mock me!
. They probably have enough preservatives to last 10 years... Buy cases of 'em...
10 CEOs in 10 years and people still trying to blame the unions ?
Have they seriously had that many CEOs in such a short amount of time? Unbelievable.
...so the unions have had enough of the draconian wages? Well guess what, unions? Now your 18,000 members have NO WAGES AND NO JOBS!!!!! See what unions do to people? They just added 18,000 more employees to the unemployment lines and they'll get far less money than they were getting working for "draconian wages"......
Do you ever see how much hostess products fill shopping carts every weekend ? The union was not the problem with this company,the problem lied with mismanagemnt of the company.
Lisa//"Now your 18,000 members have NO WAGES AND NO JOBS!!!!! See what unions do to people?"
======================================
To be precise, now the 5,000 Baker's Union members have no wages and no jobs.
And because of that union's decision not to follow the court-directed contract, neither do the other 13,000 employees from other unions that DID agree.
Fine. Management screwed things up.
But 28% of the workforce STILL decided that 100% should become unemployeed, when they ALL could still have a job. That was one union's decision. Not a management decision.
Right, but isn't this hypocritical. A CEO and/or Board of directors (less than 1% of the company) can make decisions that cut jobs or even sell or close the company, yet you are complaining that 28% of the workers came together to affect company decision.
This scenario is way more balanced than a few making the call for all.
When the 99% hold the same responsibilities as the 1%...you know, little things like running the operations of a large company, keeping all vendors and creditors paid, dealing with the mountains of red tape caused by government and unions, well then, just maybe your statement would make an ounce of sense. The problem is people who have never run a company always just think the people at the top are lining their pockets and they never deserve what they make. In the meantime, they think they should dictate how much the employees should because they know better. People keep referencing minimum wage on here...I highly doubt that these employees were asked to reduce their pay to minimum wage with no benefits. Many, many employees have had to do more for less in the last 4 years. If you don't like it, go find another job and see what you can find.
"A CEO and/or Board of directors (less than 1% of the company) can make decisions that cut jobs or even sell or close the company, yet you are complaining that 28% of the workers came together to affect company decision."
===================
As @mkdb pointed out, the JOB of that 1% is to make those kind of decisions. That the 28% made such a decision that affected their PEERS is a problem. Happy now?
See my response to you a little further below Fiftyfive
The employees have had enough of the mismanagement and want the company to be sold off to a company that knows how to manage it's finances responsibly. The hedge fund companies that own it don't care about the jobs, they only care about the profits over it's people.
Ummmm.....classic example of cutting off one's nose to spite their face.
From the CNN Money article: "But even if those brands are bought and restarted, the Hostess workers will not get their jobs back."
A few points:
1. The new contract was court ordered, and all unions, except the Baker's agreed (less than 1/3 of the workforce)
2. The details were: 9% cut for the next year. Then 3% back each of the next three years, followed by a 1% increase. So after 4 years they'll be making more than today (granted, with no consideration for inflation), with another 1% guaranteed the year after that.
3. So the union thinks it's better to be unemployed (with the rate at 7.9%), than have jobs that the company and the court are trying to keep viable.
4. Screw the other employees. The bakers just fired them.
Unions ruin businesses in modern day America...and are basically legal organized crime. Also...with all of the struggling out of work Americans dying for a job...shame on those idiot workers just like shame on those idiot teachers earlier in the year. So you want to strike? Good, enjoy being unemployed now....morons....In a real job...if you don't want to show up, you get replaced...only in a Union do you get paid to sit around, bitch, and not go to work.
Put your money where your big mouth is and work for minmum wage which you seem to want others to do,what a dolt.
at least with a minimum wage, NON-UNION job, you would HAVE A JOB!!!!!!! Unlike these new 18,000 unemployed union workers!!!!!!
Do you realize unemployment pays more than many jobs today ? Do you,as an American,think that is good for our country or are you just another exec with insatiable greed ?
As a recent college graduate, I have worked all of the hourly positions and questioned how one can survive on the money made per week. Hell, I was working two of them at nearly 65 hours a week while at college full time. I am fortunate to have a great position, and everyone quick to point the finger at unions most likely has a good paying job. People settling for what the company wanted to pay would end up unable to keep their family afloat, and would then turn to other means of making money and cause a whole heck of a lot more trouble than if this company had any meaningful way of making money without resorting to cutting pay. It was a time bomb ticking from what I read, and this is not a third world country where peasants are eager to make a few dollars a day. I wish the best of luck for the ones who lost their job and hope they find something that appreciates them very soon.
It did not take a zombie apocalypse to bring about the end of the Twinkie. The company could not make enough money to keep going. Until another company purchases the Twinkie name and recipe there will be no more Twinkies. This is partly because the owners and workers could not make the place operate efficiently enough, and partly because of the changing diets of their potential customers. I remember eating these things often as a kid, but relatively rarely as an adult do I indulge in one of these treats. Still I will miss them, although maybe not as much as Woodie Harrelson's character in Zombieland (Woody Harrelson in real life doesn't eat them and an interesting fact is that the ones he stuffed his face with in the movie were specially made from corn meal)
Thank goodness... I was hoping someone would drop that movie reference.
I went to a few stores in Chicago Friday night to find some, but alas, they were all already gone from every place I checked. I felt a bit like Woody's character, but none were to be found. I had to settle for a Suzie Q and a Sno-ball, neither of which I had tasted in years.
The Twinkie you hold is the Twinkie that holds you down.
Easy fix. The current regime should bail out the 18,000 laborers by paying the difference they'll lose with the new contract. "Twinkies are to big to Fail".
NO FEAR, Canada'd twinkies will not be affected!
You can all just order them from here... The blackmarket for twinkies will be on fire!!
My god folks...This situation is a shining example of what is wrong with our economy. A little investigating would tell you that Ripplewood Holdings, a private equity investing firm, owns a 50% stake in Hostess. Ripplewood Holding, like Bain capital, has one interest in Hostess, to strip every ounce of profit by cutting labor to the bone, stripping all benefits, and doing away with pensions. In the process, if labor refuses to give up everything and I mean everything, keeping in mind there are 18000 people we are talking about, they simply close up shop and sell of the company in pieces and reap huge profits. 18000 people have to either choose to make minimum wage with no benefits, or their corporate masters shut the doors and sell of the company. Win win for the private equity firm and their 10 partners that get paid either way, and lose lose for the 18000 american labors that lose everything. This is precisely the crux of the problem with our country right now, and then to listen to some of you so calously blame labor who have exactly no hand in running this company into the ground to squeeze every last cent out of it before breaking it up and destroying 18000 lives, is embarrassing and disgusting. Shame on you for such douchebaggery, I can only hope you are so gracious when the investment bankers buy a share in your company and it's you left to go home to your spouse and children to explain what has happened.
This simply is not true. I have worked on many restructurings throughout my career and therefore can give a knowledgeable fact-based response to this reactionary, uneducated post made with no actual knowledge of the situation. This outcome is terrible for all involved. Nobody who has ever made an investment in this Company has made money in the long run. Ripplewood will recover exactly zero in this situation after the company is liquidated. Substantially all of the proceeds will go to the recovery of the lenders who were needed to even sustain this Company in bankruptcy, and even these lenders are at risk of significant impairment. Also screwed are the 11,000 Teamster employees who agreed to the plan of reorganization knowing that no more blood could be squeezed from this stone. It was the 4,000 bakery union employees who decided they would rather be unemployed than allowing for a better outcome for everybody including their "brothers" in the Teamsters. The problem with a fool like you is that you think labor owns these businesses. Of course, there would be no business to begin with if noone put up the capital or lent the money to build and sustain it. But in creating those jobs, I suppose those capital providers became leeches in your eyes. You've got it backwards friend and please, before you comment next time, at least research the situation so you don't sound so foolish vomiting your reactionary violin playing for these selfish, irrational union leaders who destroyed everything including for their very own dues-paying membership.
Your response to that moron almost got me to orgasm!
10 CEOs in 10 years and you blame the few bakers who held out ? Tell me you don't see a terrible management problem here and I'll sell ya the brooklyn bridge.Hostess definitely did not suffer from lack of sales.
It's not that important how they got there. I'm sure management made missteps, but of course everyone in the company suffered because demand for the product dropped due to changing consumption patterns. All investors involved suffered mightily because of it, but for some reason labor feels that nothing should change for them. Not how it works. When there is need for a product or service jobs follow, sadly when the demand goes so do the jobs. What's important (and it's not the history) is that at this moment, in this flailing industry, the Company offered employees work at terms that would make the Company potentially still viable and labor blew it up. However they got there, it was labor that stuck a knife in the heart of this company to everyone's detriment including their own.
You both make some good points, all I can say is I'd like to see the two of you meet in some city halfway between the two of you and duke it out. Better yet, do it on the grounds of a shuttered Hostess plant. In fact, make a PPV event and all the money raised watched you two fight out your views would be enough to solve the labor dispute.
most people with money can hire a consulting firm to tell them how to structure a company if they don't know themselves. i'm not sure what this 'new ceo' culture is yet, but the reason why they used to get paid so much is they used to make all the decisions themselves, now they pay others to make decisions for them.
who should get most of the money for hostess, the bakers baking the goods, or the guy who does what exactly? does the ceo even come up with new product lines? or is that all focus groups now?
you're right, there are things the ceo does, like make sure the logistics add up and suppliers get paid on time. but most of that can, sadly, be automated for the most part. simple algorithms. simple equations. few variables.
what does a ceo do nowadays to justify their salary? i hope it is more than simply the shape of the pyramid.
i do think the bakers should have accepted the deal, but i also think there's supposed to be risk with investment. if hostess was doing do poorly for so long, what investor thought that would make a good investment? HUGE risk of throwing money away.
not sure if the company not being able to recoup their losses is something that should garner sympathy. especially if they're in the business of, let's be honest, flipping companies, why would you invest in such an enterprise unless
a) you have a back up plan to raid it and maybe use ownership of the product brandname to recoup losses in clever marketing plays, instead of actually paying employees or producing a product.
b) you love hostess and the twinkie and you want to keep it around, not to make money, but to eat it.
wouldn't it be nice if some rich people who wanted to keep hostess around invested in it, not to see a return for their money, but to keep hostess alive? if even on a small scale : (
if we really want to play the who's to blame game, i think the jury is still out until we see some strategic documents or interviews. this might even be a book. the two things to survive a nuclear disaster? cockroaches and twinkies.
How untrue, if not for the unions the workers in this country would still be working more for less pay and benifits. It was unions that helped create the middle class in America! It all boils down to greed eventually, be it venture capitalists, or owners of companies, that destroy the lives of companies or workers.
I would likely do the same as these employees and be forced to walk away and look for another job. You can't force workers to work for nothing, but you can't force employers to pay more either. In this case it stinks, and it means no more Twinkies, although someone posted that Twinkies will still be available in Canada. Road trip?
They were not being forced to work for nothing. They were still making considerably over minimum wage, and while the benefits were not as good, they were better than NO benefits. Another story on a different site told of a guy working for Hostess working as a receiving clerk for $48,000 per year, plus benefits. They were asking him to give up 8% ($3840/year), plus some higher deductibles on his health care and less retirement. Not great, but loads better than no income, no benefits, and no retirement.
Thank you so much for your post to this article. It makes me so proud to know there are still people that understand the visions of Company vs. Union workers...I appreciate this sooo much!
When I was a kid in the 60's, we ate Twinkies and Ho Hos, cake, cookies, Sodas, tons of candy, potatoe chips and all kinds of other junk, and none of us were fat.... because we played hard outside ALL the time.
Potato! Ha! I pulled a Dan Quayle
So true! My bother and I were raised on the junk food you mentioned. But we played outside all day. In the 60's we were "lucky" to have some tv in the evenings.
Hey! I ate the same foods and grew up in the 80's / 90's and I was NEVER fat – neither were 90% of our friends. Yes there are the occasional genetic kids that are heavy – but even they weren't that big.
We played video games often – but usually during the summer like 10pm (our curfew) until like 1am. Then up the next morning and playing baseball etc.
Today's kids each stay in their own house on Ipad, xbox, playstation playing against their friends. That's the problem. Maybe the NYC mayor should tell parents how many hours a week kids are allowed to play video games! It does hurt the eyes as well as contribute to obesity.
No need to hoard. Lady Linda – is a brand that makes almost the exact same products, but they are actually tastey. Seriously, it's like this company copied all of Hotesses products, but made them edible and delicious.
The junk food we ate as kids used real sugar, not HFCS which is in everything now.
They're actually pretty good frozen.
"Our members are on strike because they have had enough," bakers' union president Frank Hurt said in a statement Tuesday. "They are not willing to take draconian wage and benefit cuts on top of the significant concessions they made in 2004 and give up their pension so that the Wall Street vulture capitalists in control of this company can walk away with millions of dollars."
So instead of taking the pay cut they willing to let the company shutdown and go on unemployment.
The people I want to see post are the workers and get their feelings on the decision. I wonder if they blame the company for mismanagement or the union for striking and forcing a shutdown. Personally I think they got screwed from both sides. The company mismanaged and the union made it worse.
This was going to happen anyway. This company has been on the verge of closing for close to 10 years. It has NOTHING to do with the current strike. Management is just using that as an excuse to cover up the pi$$-poor job they've been doing for the past decade.
I didn't see management taking any cuts.
"I didn't see management make any cuts"
Yeap – Except "Management" just shut the company so they don't have a job either....so not really a valid argument/observation.
Most senior managers allegedly worked not for Hostess, but for Ripplewood Holding. That means they have HUGE golden parachutes and jobs waiting elsewhere in the parent company. I doubt very much they are going to feel much pain.
There's no need to hoard Twinkies. It might be difficult to get them for, say, six months to a year following the rundown in Hostess's inventory, but someone will most certainly buy the rights to the Twinkies brand when Hostess liquidates. The same can probably be said for Wonder bread as well. Once the rights to the brand have been bought, it won't be long before Twinkies are being pumped out at the same rate as Hostess was making.
Six months to a year without chocolate donettes?? God help us. I tried a cheaper brand just last week and didn't like them. I figured this week I would go back to my yummy Hostess brand. I bet if I go to the grocery store tonight they will be all gone!
Now what will we eat after the nuclear holocaust?
Obama is to blame plain and simple. He wants to give the unions more power. Now these people can join the unemployment lines. Down here in Mississippi twinkies are a big hit. Too bad they are going away. Have been eating them at least once a week for over 35 years. Now there is going to be no more of them. Obama stinks. Unions stink. Obama and his cronies probably would have tried to outlaw them anyway just like big sodas in New York City have been banned. Can't believe this country.
Yup, Romney never would have let this happen.
He would have faced down the unions and told them they are fired – oh, wait.........
Are you serious? Obama is to blame for the demise of Twinkies? Oh wait, I have violent diarrhea – it must be Obama's fault. Oh gosh... my cable went out – it must be Obama's fault. There's an earthquake – yep... that evil Obama yet again. As long as we're making sweeping generalizations, can we say that people in Mississippi are as ignorant as you? Putting the "dumb" in Dumb Redneck for how many years? Sorry – my ignorant geographical bias must be Obama's fault.
Hey. He's not a good prasident. Whys all the bad stuff happening the past 4 yars? Now same thangs going to happin anuther 4 years. People well be sorry they voted for him. See the movie 2016. Reality is on the way in 4 yars.
Obama is a Great president and these four years have been heaven when compared to the previous 8 years under the stupid hick Bush presidency. I rather have Obama as a dictator than Bush as anything in government. GOP's have to start to better themselves instead of blaming Obama all the time. They need to go back to school, learn something beyond truck driving, and stop believing their lives are run by a fake "god" who will save them because for all that belief he sure doesn't seem to like you people very much :-) Also Obama would have gotten this country to number one again if it weren't for those greedy fat pig republican's stopping his every move. Oh, but wait, you probably like fat pigs because you think of bacon. Why are the poorest states republican and the richest ones democrat? Hmmm, maybe that tells you people something but then again you wouldn't understand it anyway.
How would you like your salary cut in half and benefits cut off in a job you held for 20 years. Do you think Hostess was waiting for Obama's re-election to declare bankruptcy and would have not declared bankruptcy if Romney had won? Are you effing nuts?
Catsnake, you truly drinking way too much kool-aid. Sure the overall of red states is not as rich in wealth as the blue but look at the statistics.
1. Unemployment in red states is lower
2. Debt ratio is significantly lower in red states
3. Cost of living significantly lower in red states
4. Fewer people are on social systems in red states
Sure we may make less than you hippie tree hugging, hollywood elite, socialist loving liberals but then again we are not as stupid to fall in line with the sheeple of Obama to think the government can take care of us with no money. Liberalistic / Socialistic ways of life will fail a country. Apparently you failed in economics and history. Try looking at Germany (pre-WWII). Italy, Greece, Spain. they are all failing.
Obama need to propose legislation to improve the reading and writing standards in the state of Mississippi.
I get it – Mississippi Man is not real. He's trying to insult the Southern demographic by pretending not to be able to spell correctly or complete a sentence. But he's brought other knuckle-draggers our of the woodwork with their tree-hugging, elitist hippie, socialist comments. Good job – I'm glad I caught on – perhaps too subtle.
What happened in the past 4 years? Get a grib man...What happened was Obama had to pick up the messy remnants of George W Bush...then...two years into his term he had to deal with Tea Party (GOP) idiots trying to keep him from being re-elected by saying NO to everything...just to do so. Obama is NOT to blame. And before you start blaming me for being bias...I'm a white, male in my mid 40's (who use to be republican)...that doesn't fit the "presecribed classification of voters" being assigned to Obama supporters. Think straight...Bush is who we are cleaning up after!
Oh yeah, you cannot blame Obama for anything because he has not taken responsibility for anything. By the way who is he going to blame for the past four years of failure? Oh yeah, he can blame bush like he has been doing all this time. While we are at it lets add up his failures:
Chevy Volt: Fail
Solyndra: Fail
A123: Fail
Stimulus #1 (800 billion): Fail
Lowering jobless rate: Fail
Oil: Fail
Obamacare (900 billion and still rising): Epic fail even before it has started
He has proven that he wants a people so dependent on the government to provide for them. Hey liberals, you are owed nothing. This country does not owe you anything. Get off your bandwagon of socialism and get a job earning a living. Oh by the way life is hard. DEAL WITH IT.
Plain and simple. Since this has nothing to do with a company operating on an antiquated business model, and not adjusting to the changing tastes of their consumer base. Or that the execs just gave themselves a giant pay raise 8 months ago, or that the company was in trouble back in 2004 when the workers had to make great concessions to keep the company afloat. Obama. Plain and simple.
Quaint...
Considering that Hostess has been sinking for ten years, you cannot blame Obama for something that started a decade ago. Besides, he wasn't president then. It was...wait for it...Bush. So if you want to blame anyone, blame HIM!
Reading through these comments, I knew it was only a matter of time before someone blamed Obama for destroying Twinkies. Is there anything that is not his fault? Oh, never mind, why ask.
frank hurt!!! you're the man!!!!!!! now 18500 workers will be standing in the unemployment line. lmao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh Noooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not the TWINKIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:)
Its funny how the anti-union, race to the bottom crowd are all harping of the lost of "profits" of an endless list of companies that will squeeze the life out of the people actually doing the WORK all in the name of MONEY. So as long as you have a job, it's ok if your boss decides one day to pay you $1 a week? I mean, you still have a job so why should you complain? You give 30+ years of your life to a company, the few guys at the top and the shareholders all have 5 houses a piece and a car elevator in each one, but god forbid they do anything else for the people that are actually doing the WORK that pays for those car elevators... Unions aren't perfect, but if corporate fat cats had their why you would all be working for free as forced labor.
If someone tried to make me work for a $1 a week, I would quit and go work somewhere else. I don't need a union to tell me to do that.
No – It's not ok if one day the company decides to just cut wages/pension's etc with no reason – but it's a free market. Nobody is ensalved to their employerer or location – so if you don't like your job – go get a new one.
Companies do not owe workers anything outside of what is mandated by law. Conversly, employees don't owe companies anything either. The good companies do try to take care of their employees, but not all of them do. It is ultimately your choice to work for them.
Good companies know that good employees make the company.
Apple should by them, name them iTwinkies, charge $30 for a box of 10, and save the universe.
Heh.
iTwinkies.
I ate these things as a kid but I don't feed them to my kids. HFCS crap foods are just not trending right now. So, I could see that this company is failing because demand isn't there. Those of us who grew up prior to the obesity epidemic can look back at the brand nostalgically and sort of wish it to exist forever– but many of us won't feed this oversweetened-to-cover-the-taste-of-preservatives crap to our own kids We can either bake from scratch our buy something more wholesome. The same for Wonder Bread it is just empty carbs!!!
You're right... I can always bake my own twinkies. Even the recipe is online if you want to make it taste similar (I prefer the old style banana filled).
Oh, Chet. Since a reply to your comment below isn't an option there, please attempt to absorb some thoughts you may find astounding. Let's begin: I'm not Tea Party material, as I don't believe in their social policies or any idea of a magic man living in the sky. I'm in favor of some government regulation. I just don't treat it as a religion. You and the tea-parties loons have much more in common than you realize. Seeing the world's issues as simplistic problems your college professor and/or all-knowing government could have solved long ago is as ludicrous as believing in some omniscient being (or beings, if you wish). Serious conspiracy theories? None from me. I just think that the moral sanctimony from those who wish to impose their will over something as silly as Twinkie-eating is indicative of a flawed movement built upon the idea that its leaders know what's best for everyone. That's OK unless those people have power and are willing to use it. I know religious folks who would impose a Christian theocracy upon America in a heartbeat. I'm simply of the opinion that the WH occupant and his followers would find little wrong with doing the same sort of thing with their own philosophy. Just like the Tea Party, today's democrats believe they could solve all our problems if we'd just sit back and trust them. Nope.
Anyone who thinks Twinkies are going anywhere is insane. :)
Especially after the sales spike from this story.
And Twinkies don't go anywhere even after you buy them.
They have a longer shelf life than we do!
got a box on amazon for $1000.00 – 10ct
There's a box of Twinkies in that grocery store. Not just any box of Twinkies, the last box of Twinkies that anyone will enjoy in the whole universe. Believe it or not, Twinkies have an expiration date. Some day very soon, Life's little Twinkie gauge is gonna go... empty.
Time to nut up or shut up!
Farewell our childhood...luckily for the soon to be unemployed, Obama was reelected – surely there is a loan waiting somewhere to provide taxpayer benefits to replace all that job creation. Gosh, I hope no blacks, asians or latinos are affected by the layoffs – just "angry old white men" who invested their money, ran the company and hired people. The newly unemployed will be pleased to learn that all those "repressed wages and benefits" will come no more. Their unions will be pleased at one more victory for the working man.
Apparently you didn't read the article past the word "union", did you?
The problem with Hostess was that its parent company didn't give it a Snowball's chance in heck. Ripplewood is an investment capital corporation that, like Bain Capital, only buys to wring whatever it can get out of an already-failing business and then dump what is left. You want to blame the workers and the unions? Really?
How about blaming the ten CEOS over the last decade? How about the senior executives voting themselves obscene raises at the beginning of this year KNOWING the company was ready to tank? How about the rumor that Ripplewood emptied the coffers earlier this year because they had already decided to abandon ship?
Seriously? I think some people overdose on tea.
When are they going to start making Human Beans!?!?!
Sounds like a job opportunity for Mitt Romney and Bain Capital. I'm just wetting my pants with excitement over the liquidation and the pink slips.
The correct term is "creaming your jeans"
Bain and Romney (if he were still there) could easily turn this around and keep people working. Baking Twinkies, Cup Cakes and Fruit pies is something you can't do overseas and expect to get to the shelves on time. Just another example of Unions sending another little piece of America as well as 18,000 workers down the shitter.
Need more Twinkies. Need more Twinkies.... Will work for Twinkies....
Four more years of Obama and you just might be.
LOL. I remember when Bush was in office and homes values were dropping likes rocks and 17 of your neighbors just lost their jobs.
Then someone else took office and gave us a tourniquet
Apparently they placed the tourniquet around America's neck, because the recent election results indicate a lack of blood flow to the brain. Although, maybe they just tightened an existing one, because we've been making poor choices for several election cycles.
Patreaus for President!
listen up you piece of trash, why do u all compare you pres to bush if bush was such a loser??? doesnt that make obummer a loser??? birds of a feather ??? i doubt u got the brains to pass gas by yourself, go jump off a bridge throw the trash out
I wish I could read what you wrote.
I grew up on Hostess and Wonder Bread. We shopped at a bakery outlet in my home town. I don't usually buy junk food anymore, but I will admit to buying a box of Twinkies yesterday on the way home from work. I may never eat them, but I have them. I'll probably take a picture, put it in my scrapbook, and eventually throw the things away. The end of an era, but the worst part is the jobs lost in small towns across the country.
Don't throw them away, I'm sure there must be some kids around you who'll be happy to eat them. Or coworkers. Especially since they will soon never be able to eat one again.
You can always save the box and flatten it for storage.
didn't dan white use the twinkie defense being the reason he killed musconi in san francisco. sales went through the roof, he went to jail, he got out and then killed himself. i wonder if he ate twinkies after he got out.
There maybe 18,000 people about to hit the unemployment line but the Union piedpipers that ted them down the road to destruction are riding around in their Union issued Cadillacs today wondering what Country Club they'll play at tomorrow or deciding what Caribiean Island to go to to get some rest after a rough strike. That's that way to do it boys!! You still have your jobs!
Hoard them? With the obesity rising in America the last thing people need is a Twinkie.
Yes, they need marijuana instead. I've heard it does wonders for the appetite.
Voted for you for President.
PLEASE! Obesity is caused by lifestyle choices and genetics...not twinkies. We don't need bankruptcies and an nanny state. We need personal accountability and responsibility.
In support of your non Nanny state Joe, I have decided to buy a pack of cigarettes and a super, super big gulp consume both of them in the middle of Times Square!
Roger. Let me know when you are going. I'd like to join in the celebration.
I don't know if you realize this but Hostess products don't make people fat. People choosing to eat too many of them (and other things) and not exercising causes that.
Thanks for wanting to be my nanny and deciding what I do and don't need, but no thanks. My BMI is just fine and I just went out and bought $50 worth to stock the freezer.
Thank you and well said. There is no reason in this world why the average person can't enjoy these tasty treats (junk food) on occasion and still manage to stay slim and healthy.
I am guessing you back the ban on X-Large drinks, removing toys from McDonalds kids meals, etc? Why?
What happened to self control (or in the part of the kids meals parenting)?
We bail out banks and auto makers! Come on Mr President let's bail out an American icon! It is good for the economy, because it helps the cardiologists, the coronary bypass surgeons and the funeral directors!
I'm sure we can find 18,000 non union works that would like a job .
I am sure we can find them. But the problem is they will go to who? People who dont have a care they will make 7.00 an hour and no insurance? While you may hate unions now , you do relize that our grandparents formed these unions to get you weekends off, 8-9 hour days versus 12, benefits, vacation time, etc. You wouldnt have any of that with out them. And if people dont stick up for labor fairness, sure others will take the jobs but then why would owners have a reason to give anyone decent benefits if they can always find some jackhole to work for peanuts and kiss their feet in thanks while they pocket MILLIONS. Trickle down my arse.
Truth is its only the 5,000 bakers turning the place inside out. But you got it right. When did union employees and bosses ever see and get concerned about the bigger evil they cause. Good luck to all who will now go unemployed.
The concept of the union is an overall good one, and back in the early days when some bosses and industries had inexcusable conditions, then they were a good idea. However, I believe that not only have they crossed WAY over the line, and become crooked, but at this point they may have actually outlived their usefulness.
I support Hostess's decision, but I always thought what they did was considered illegal. Isn't what they did something called union busting? I think legislation prohibiting union busting in the 50's is about the time the drunk with power unions started going bat sh!t crazy.
It is quite the conspiracy: Twinkie-profit to doctor-profit to death-profit - Yes, that's just how the plan goes. It was quite an accomplishment, though. And now you've ruined it. Must all the evil plans of big business be exposed?
Let a company in a non-Union state buy it. Then they can give the jobs to non-union workers.
Bush's fault!!!!
You Betcha!
Hey, the box that's in the time capsule Nickelodeon Studios burried in 1992 will come in handy... in 30 years.
This makes no sense to me. I would rather take a pay cut and continue to work while seeking another employment opportunity. Those "Wall Street vulture capitalists" were going to make their millions anyways so all the union did was cost a lot of people their jobs.
That's because unlike selfish union workers – you are a rational individual. Anybody know what these bakers were making per hour? Haven't heard.
Avg wage was $32/hr. Proposal would have cut it to $29.50
A biig, bad corporation that doesn't provide locally grown organic vegan Michelle Obama-approved product goes out of business and those children who need the government to tell them what to eat applaud. While they hoot, clap, and contnue to open-mindedly mock those who aren't just like them, I hope they continue to work for the betterment of ignorant America by ensuring that all those small businesses making or selling any foods that might be deemed unhealthy by their White House mommy and daddy are also shut down. Knowing how you folks love the media attention, I look forward to stories about concerned people picketing all locally-owned bakeries, coffee shops (not only for the pastries, but that caffeine can't be considered healthy), and fast food operations. Please don't forget the evils of alcohol and tobacco (and anything else that can be smoked). Night clubs with their menus of evil drink and food (as well as loud music that can damage hearing – we'll get around to ending live concerts soon), convenience stores with their shelves and coolers of death, and those small farms providing any form of butter or products containing sugar. Let's not be hypocrites and stop at corporations. We need to shut down all places that might tempt the citizenry into making an unwise health choice. Americans must be protected from themselves, no matter the source. Arise and end this scourge of our nation!
You bore me.
Sorry to have removed you from your happy place. Please examine my post closely and I'm sure you can find something to bring back the joy. I've been around for a while, child. Your anonymous internet insults won't bother me a bit. They might entertain your naive friends, though. Perhaps that's your schtick. Ah, the art of snark!
Hey, Conspiracy Theory Larry! The "big bad gubmint" didn't shut down your Twinkie bakery; your beloved free market did. If you have been around for a while 'chile' you may have noticed the gargantuan proportions of the average American backsides dotting the landscape. Some of us decided that living longer might be nicer than a Twinkie, and that's why they are going the way of the Dodo. If you really want to support them, rally some of your tea party brethren, jump in a great big pile and have a twinkie-chugging party.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz
@Chet, if you bothered to read the story, it was the corporation that is requesting to shut down as the Union will not negotiate. Granted they were in bankruptcy, but could have probably emerged from it. But the Union decided they would be better off not working.
@Chet: PLEASE!!! There is NO WAY that Hostess, or any other snack food company is going to go out of business because the American people don't show enough interest. Not in our grandchildrens lifetime, and probably not EVER. You said it yourself with the giant backsides dotting our landscape. Do you really think that is what happened?
So much of my childhood (record stores, book stores, etc.) is disappearing. Super sad, especially for all of those employees.
Yes. Imagine where we would be if all the things of yesteryear were still here. How would we ever h ave room for progress?
Yes, all that useless nostalgia getting in the way of working for the betterment of mankind. Memories and traditions? What a waste. Kindly make a list of old things that are unnecessary in your world so we can begin the purge. Feel free to put me on your list. I am older than 30, so what good can I be? History is so useless. It's impossible to learn a thing from it.
I agree DanUser..and add that its not only nostalgia but the integrity that threads America that is the real loss by companies such as Hostess losing the battle..
It never occurs to people that owners and management keep reducing pay (and the pool of money they get to give themselves as profit) because its FUN! Humans do things primarily for the emotional high. Consumer items provide a feel good response in the buyers, hey that looks COOL, I want it. This same process goes on in the board room, when the bosses suggest they lower pay to unlivable levels, sticking to their workers. I win, you lose, and by the way, it feels GREAT to win, so I'm going to make you lose and lose and lose so I can WIN. Detached economic reasons for offering lower wages and benefits, cost analysis? Wow you slaves are totally programmed, come work for me, you'll never oppose anything I clothe in economic doubletalk then ram down your throats! You're like chickens rushing to fight for some feed I toss at your feet. Come and get it, minimum wages for all! Anyone who causes problems ends being dinner for me and my fat family. Don't you love Capitalism? I do.
Congratulations!
You are the winner of today's "Stupid Post of the Day" contest. By a VERY wide margin!
How, pray tell, is it stupid? That I note the emotional reward of power? Did Hitler stand, waving his hand at crowds of drooling sycophants, because he coolly and logically understood it was for the greater good? Personal power is the ultimate emotional high, and most people never get to experience it. That is the great hidden pleasure that wealth bestows, reducing common, less economically successful people to mere underlings and virtual slaves, willing to do whatever you wish. Ask any broke, fallen millionaire what they miss most, and its this pinnacle of absolute sway over everyone they meet on a daily basis, and the smug nods from other golden czars. Oh to be rich and tell all of you to go back to work as I stroll past with my incredibly young companions hanging on my arms. Yeah, its just simple economics, the business isn't sustainable, your pay has to be cut. Ha ha ha. Did it again. Oh that feels good, shall we be off to Paris my dear?
It's amazing that your even smart enough to turn on your sweatshop made computer.
Same thing goes for people wanting to help others in any way or, on the flip side (old-school term), making decisions that are painful for others. When our taxes are raised without spending being cut, it's because the powerful politicians that were just reelected can stick it to the little people. There can't possibly be any reason other than the emotional high they get from exercising all that power. It's all about winning the feel-good battle! Life is so simple!
And their next job will be at....... Sorry, there are no jobs
WHAT?? That is such a dumb thing to say. Maybe that's how YOU would feel if you had the "power". Last year my company cut our pay. The GM agonized over the decision for weeks. When he told me it was time to do it (I'm in management) I cried. I knew this would truly hurt a few. The others would get by. We were able to restore pay this year. At no time did anybody in management feel some bizarre thrill as you imagine.
Mary, I think the point being made is that the vampire capitalists that own Hostess are NOT personally vested in the company or the employees. They just see numbers.
I feel sorry for those in Missouri losing their jobs. Not those in Washington or Ohio though...they asked for it.
It's not a matter of whether there are other citizens in America that may have a problem with any business that makes patries full of sugar or whatever else...Any business like Hostess should have every right/freedom to offer such foods to the people...I believe in every citizen's intelligence on making good food choices for them & their families. Those few in our Government simply have no business/right to get involved & destroy a company, just because they personally believe a company goes against a citizen's welfare.....What has happened to each individual's freedom to choose, whether it food & etc. I guess there are many politicians in government that believe tweekies are worse for our health than legalizing weed/marijuana???? I'd still rather hold on & have my own "personal freedoms of choice" without government intrusion"....To make my choice of sugar coated pastries vs. a drug that causes anyone that smokes it to live in a fantasy world, I'll still choose tweekies in moderation...Every regulation government is forcing onto the people takes away, each citizen'sfreedoms of individual personal choice.....So far Government is winning....Be prepared people of the USA, when government is done, "they will have taken away all the freedoms we were all born with". And as far as those few elected in our government, isn't it ironic that they feel they don't have to abide by the same laws & regulations they force on the rest of us? Whom doesn't believe those in our government should also have the same healthcare system as they have forced onto the rest of our Nation? Tell me "why" they "exempt" themselves of the same Affordable Health Care Act, as they have forced onto us?????
I have an unopened package of Twinkies from 2004. They are hard as a rock, but have not turned green yet.
Put em on ebay! You get a couple hundred!
The great think with twinkies is they last a long time. They aren't really damaged long tranist times. So when it turns out to be cheaper to make them overseas and ship them here it will be done. Neither union demands nor management compensation make much of difference. The war should be against sourcing products from countries where the working conditions and living standards our lower than ours. Fighting amongst ourselves only lets other take over the economy.
To the people who seem to be under the incorrect assumption that Twinkies have an indefinite shelf life, they most definitely DO NOT. I had a box in my cupboard that had been in there probably about a month, bit into one, and immediately spit it out because it tasted moldy. If they are put in the refrigerator, maybe they keep longer.
The major point of this article is not about Twinkies; it's about the 18,000 people who will be out of a job and the loss of a long-standing corporation.
The only reason people say they have an indefinite shelf life is because they watched a cockroach eat on in Wall-E long after earth was abandoned.
Twinkies are also featured in many Post Apocoliptic movies and TV shows as being one of the few things that can still be eaten after the world has colapsed. I'm going to go buy a bunch of Hostess products, which I have not eaten in years, just for the nostalgia.
Who cares about factories closing and jobs? The cool guy is President again! woo hoo!
No, it's about the 13,000 people who will lose their jobs because 5,000 people refuse to work under contract terms that were decided by a bankruptcy judge.
Hey, look on the bright side! All of these unemployed folks with principles can get their processed snack cakes with their food stamps! Those of us who would gladly take their place just to have a job would happily keep making those Twinkies!
Has Obama blamed this on Bush yet?
No, Skippy W Bush liked pop tarts
no but romney has blamed his butt getting kicked on everybody but his dead daddy
Ha Ha, You lost!
Funny, over on the forums for this story on CNN Money, everyone is blaming Obama.
People do love their blame games, don't they?
stocking Twinkies is not a bad idea since they can survive the next 5 Holocausts and many planetary alignments without going stale.
Unions had their place 100 years ago, helping with wages and safety and it was needed. Now, they strong arm, use dues for political races and get rich not thinking that their antics will ultimately close a business. We have sat quiet while this has happened but now they have gone too far! No Twinkies, Ho Hos, Cupcakes, Zingers, Chocodiles, Ding Dongs and worst of all NO SNO BALLS!!! Wonder Bread was good but overpriced. They will come back, but like Mother's Cookies bought by Kellogg, it wont be the same. Some products will not come back. Thank you unions.
I hope you AND your kids make minimum wage for the rest of your lives because unions are the only thing we have left fighting for Americans.
No, unions have become the very thing they served a purpose for initially. They now only exist to serve themselves (meaning the leaders). Are they going to serve the 18000 people out of work?
Agreed. 13000 non-union members are now out of a job because of the 5000 union members that decided that just because the economy sucks doesn't mean they have to take pay cuts, too.
Unions are bad, very, very bad, evil! If you really think Unions are a good thing then you have a twisted, warped mind! I have never, will never be in a union or ever support a union! Bad! Bad! Bad!
and corporations dont use money for political purposes? yeah im sure unions are also responsible for taking all jobs overseas cause the union bosses have a covenant with the chineese overlords
...and if corporations are so concenerned with Americans,why do they have so many jobs shipped overseas instead of leaving them here ? This whole NEW WORLD ORDER thing is nothing but a ploy to enslave ALL labor around the world,not just China and India.
because our elected politicians who depend on China to continue allowing us to print money incent them to.
Who ever said corporations were concerned about people? Corporations exist to make something/provide a service, employ werkers, and hopefully generate a profit so they can continue to operate. If said corporation can stay competitive by producing goods in a foreign country where millions are happy to get a job, then that's precisely what will happen. Look no further than two American icons.....Nike and Apple. Their products are manufactured overseas because the workers do a great job for less in wages than Americans demand. We have priced ourselves out of the worker market............forever.
And, EZ, do you know what the markup is on Apple and NIke? Suffice to say, about 60% of the retail on those Vietnamese-made Air Whatevers is pure profit. Apple makes at least 40-50% on some of their times. Each rakes it in by outsourcing the labor to countries where sweatshops and slave labor are the norm and, dude, the QA isn't any better. The material is not as good and the workmanship sucks.
It's the corporation's (i.e. the shareholders'/owners') money to do with as they please. That doesn't make them golden, but nobody makes them go into business and if it doesn't make sense to stay in business, they are free to stop. The Union and the corporation both won this one. Yes a Union can bring a business to its knees. Yes a corporation's owners can simply walk away. Much good it does the workers who would have been better served taking the deal, biding their time, and individually scouting out better work opportunities. The Teamsters understood this. Unfortunately, the Bakers didn't.
Totally agree with you on the Unions – they had their place. Now all they are is groups of bullys. well they didn't want to work for "draconian wages" so now they get to NOT work and get NO wages... good luck getting another job like the cake walk you have had.
bullies? you are pathetic. go work for walmart..they dont have a union
Don't like the wage @ Walmart? Go find something else. Unions no longer have their place. They will pretty much make themselves extinct with their demands when more and more companies move production overseas. Are you a Union Worker?
Another company blaming unions when their not even paying them that much money !!!
What kind of compensation has management refused to give up???
Why and how could a bunch of execs take one of America's most successful brands and destroy like these guys have done??? Management , not employees , have the power to make or break a company and those are the folks we should be looking at,not low wage union workers.
First off...it says no where in this article what they make. People striking in auto making unions were making 60k for unskilled labor and had very impressive benefits packages. Until we know what these people are being compensated with...don't act like you know whos fault it is.
This isnt the only site with this story,those guys are only making around 11.00 an hour. Also,Chris,auto workers are NOT unskilled labor,landscapers are unskilled labor. How much do you live on a year ?
in the sense that they are trained to perform a repetetive duty that does not require secondary education (and the loans that college graduates and beyond carry)...yes, they were unskilled before they were given a skill.
Brian, it has been determined that the average worker would have to bring in at least $16/hour to be able to live without needing assistance. So if you think $11/hour is great money, come live next door to me and see if you could do it on what used to be McDonald's wages.
Buy up all the Twinkies and horde them? How about I don't buy any Hostess products?
okay
stupid people took a TOTAL wage cut instead of partial pay cut...
hmm looks like they got them to get liquidated. If I hated the place that badly after everything they have done to me.... thats the way i would like to go... with a wrecking ball to the darn building. their jobs were gonna be eliminated no matter what.
Did you read the article? Have you been following this? They already took a pay cut. Now the "venture capitalists" want to take their pensions too. The pensions they paid into. Not something just given for free. Why do you follow blindly down the business is a person path?
Demanding a guaranteed annual 7% raise in this economy is ludicrous. No way could this company have survived with this requirement in additon to the additional costs they would have had to bear under Obamacare. Not saying these people aren't hard workers, but that doesn't mean they have to get everything they want. I've always gotten high review scores at work but have never gotten a raise more than 4%. If these people can find another job, they'll be sorry they lost their old one, because they surely won't get the same kind of pay or benefits they had, much less a pension. Live and learn I guess.
Pay raises should not just be guaranteed, they should be fairly earned. If someone doing a lousy job gets the same annual pay raise as someone doing a great job, what incentive is there to do a great job.
I think the union would have accepted ANY raise, even your 4%. However, the parent company paid for a judge to say it was OK to offer a contract that would have CUT 9% from wages. That isn't acceptable for people who have, in some cases, dedicated 30+ years to the company (unlike a different CEO each year).
No, no, not the Twinkies!!! Don't let them go the way of Mickey Cakes!!!
If you wonder what the slaves and impoverished of ancient Rome said, commenting on the extremely rich as they lorded over them cruelly, then read the majority of these joking statements here and on most other comments. These lame observations are the outlook of scared, passive people, worried they will soon suffer the same fate as these bakers, helpless to fight the 'owners' and 'bosses'. Might as well make a joke and slink back to your poorly paid job, you might be next, you're powerless. its a great time to be a rich person, you're all so easy to push around, why bother with chains, you've welded them on your minds quite effectively. Makes me want to start a business, so I can make you all jump through some hoops and humiliate yourselves to keep your minimum wage jobs. :)
well said
Way to troll. Someone delete that comment.
so disagreeing with your point of view is trolling... get a life dude or join the Mitt whine party
Golly did I say something that offended you? I find 18,000 people losing their jobs just before Christmas, on the whim of a small group of very wealthy people (and the even wealthier people whose money they manage) far more offensive.
why i even bother with these people.. they are probably happy those people got the boot.
careful LastLiberal, you started sounding like a cruel conservative towards the end.
If you think I'm small minded enough to lock myself in one position, like a brand seared into my skin, your own limited outlook is showing. I may become fairly wealthy soon, become one of those who lord over the lesser ones, begging me to keep their jobs. Why not? Indifferent power seems to fascinate people these days, as the last election showed very clearly. I eagerly anticipate my future status as a lord over the vast, passive minions who will joke and whine, then take the lash, slink home and settle in front of their TVs, ready to slink back to work again the next day. It's a golden day to have lots of gold. As I said before, human nature doesn't change much over time...
I'm glad that the union is standing strong. They may lose all of their jobs, but get to keep their dignity. Hostess has been run by a board of directors that ONLY care about raising their stock price, and making a quick fortune with heartless disregard for the employees that actually do the work at their company.
dignity is a poor subsitute for food for your kids....
yeah but your logic is flawed. When you suppress wages below market standards is just a matter of getting another lame job. All abused about to be laid-off employees would LOVE to LEAVE A JOB THIS WAY. With a wrecking ball to the side of the building. I dont work here anymore, but upper management doesnt either.....good
I think that the markets decide what "market standards" are, not the unions.
looks to me like the workers decided to say no for the first time and the company collapsed. I know people like you live in this fantasy world (to me is a nightmarish world) where people have no leverage but you are sadly mistaken. You know why corporations REALLY hate Obamacare? because it will workers finally the freedom to leave a job and not worry about losing healthcare.. which means the employers will have to be very careful on how much abuse they layout. if worker A is abused By company Y. and Worker A sees that Worker B is treating slightly better on company Z, he will simply leave one crap job for one slightly less crappy. And that my friend is how the worker determine standards
@Frank "looks to me like the workers decided to say no for the first time and the company collapsed." – in other words, the market decided. The market will only pay so much for product. Increasing the cost of producing it can and clearly will kill the product's saleability on the market. So reiterating the original comment, I hope their children savor the taste of dignity. Would have made more sense to feed them on pragmatism by taking the deal and biding time while looking for a better paying job.
Pat, considering the workers had already taken cuts to keep the company solvent in the past, your statement is a non-sequitor.
So it's cool to pay them less than standard so they'd need a second job to pay for rent along with food, eh? When they come after YOUR job and start reducing YOUR wages, we'd like for you to tell us so WE CAN LAUGH AT YOU!
Gary im siding with the workers... what i was SAYING was that when you lower the wages, cut the benefits, and make it clear their jobs hey are not safe, there is no reason to give up anymore concessions. You make the company shut down, and get another job
Just like a republican,they'd rather shut the whole thing down rather than pay a fair wage to their employees.
Similar to Willy Wonka, this has been a plot to take the secret recipes of various Hostess snack cakes by Little Debbie and other off-brand, semi-adequate desserts. R.I.P. Twinkie the Kid. You were #1 in my heart, even if my heart didn't like you very much.
Careful, that could be an actionable statement...
Hostess is probably one of the remaining few companies that doesn't have GMO's in the food line. (not that twinkies are any health food, lol) so, yeah, a great target for Wall street plus Monsanto so they can resurrect the twinkie and put their poisons to work.
Loving me some Hostess......that is why I am 200 lbs over weight!
"Our members are on strike because they have had enough," bakers' union president Frank Hurt said in a statement Tuesday. "They are not willing to take draconian wage and benefit cuts on top of the significant concessions they made in 2004 and give up their pension so that the Wall Street vulture capitalists in control of this company can walk away with millions of dollars." – Okay, so instead of taking a cut, they will loose their job. That is a much better solution.
Now they're getting a 100% wage cut. Can't get any more drastic than that. Serves them right.
Sure,stick up for the company execs who outright stole these guys' pensions.
What's to get upset about? Hostess hasn't produced anything that can be called food – EVER!
You are right about that. That stuff will kill you.
they make bread don't they?
Money and owners are powerful, but like the opposition in a guerilla war, the other side soon develops its own power to counter it, through organization, what is called an union. We are entering a time of immense money power and relatively weak worker power, identical to the end of the previous century which saw the first rise, world wise, of unions and worker organizing. As the power of money increases it breeds the counter force of organized workers or unions automatically. It is pendulum, now swinging far to the owner/money side, it will quickly swing back the other way as indifferent destruction of people's jobs and their lives spawns anger and a desire to fight for existence. Or were those fired workers expected to commit suicide, essentially junking themselves? History, unread, misunderstood, unknown rises up to determine the future. Human nature changes slowly. Compassion and sympathy are what matters most.
The unions have gone to far...but so have the bonuses and retirement packages of management by one hundred fold. Unions need to compromise more and management needs to accept reduced salaries and retirement packages more reasonably aligned with those of the workers they manage. I understand that they are managers and should get more than those they manage. Fair enough. But multiple times more? Not so much.
Unions have no place in America in the 21st century....Companies are just going to start to have a permanent part time or staffing agency work force. Unions make people lazy and feel entitled.
My father worked when the Union was needed, that was well over 20 years ago. Today, the Union has no place in the workplace. They are not helping, they are hurting. Look at what the union president says in this article. REALLY?? So, you won't take a pay cut (and have a job) so you will settle for no pay and no job. NICE, makes perfect sense. (sarcasticly saying). What is sad about this is only 5,000 of the 18,000 are union members, so look what the union is doing to the other 13,000.
Thank God we still have Little Debbie!
Thanks for bringing that up ! I feel alot better now. But I never really liked Little Debbies as much.
I haven't eaten them in years but I will always remember as a kid going to my grandparents house, they always had Twinkies or Cupcakes. A bit of nostalgia that will be truely missed.
Sno-Balls were my favorite.
What will Republican's do now without their superfood?!
The Mayan prophecies are coming true!!!
wow, you joyless anti-union sheeple sure are biting what hostess is throwin' out there... hook, line & sinker. no questions asked.
how's it feel to have your fears and hatred so easily manipulated for the benefit of someone else's secret, offshore bank account?
If you own a business, you should be allowed to run it however you want as long as you follow OSHA and employment laws. Unions just suck the life out of companies. If you don't like the company don't work there.
18,000 people are being canned for following a manipulative union boss or bosses, led like sheep to the slaughter. You are angry about class warfare you have been spoon fed and like the taste of because you are a covetous slug and you have the cajones to call US manipulated? Look at yourself.
Twonkies gave me teh diabetes!
People seriously pull your heads out of your butts. Unions are not perfect but does anyone want to go back to the days before unions? Let me remind some people who have become more self consumed by greed that unions are the reason that anyone gets a fair wage, fair benefits and sick days/ vacation time. Corporate greed would like you to have none of that because without these things we become like China. Cheap workers with a poor standard of living. And for those who would make the argument that the government would not let that happen remember this little gem...who do you thinks funds these huge political campaigns..ding ding ding yup corporations that want to make more money!! Seriously is it sad that people will lose their jobs yes very much so but remember sometimes the best decisions are the hardest.
At the same time you have unions for millionaires. NBA and NFL unions. Are they really fighting for what's fair?
It would take more than getting rid of Unions to wind things back the way they were before Unions entered the picture. Most of the better things that Unions stood for have already been enshrined in labor law with various legislation for decades. The political fallout of changing the legislation at this point would prevent any backtracking on, for instance, minimum wage, family leave, etc. So let's not overdramatize the impact of the absence of Unions in this day and age.
Have an apple. Takes care of the pending Twinkie shortage and Medicare expense all at the same time.
The brand will be sold to another company.
Yes they will be bought buy fat-boy-mills
Bill – Hostess is aiming to sell its brands, not the company itself. So some may be saved while others will not. Supplies are good to last through maybe end of November. Then Hostess brands will be limited or gone form shelves until other companies buy and make the various brands.
Since competitors already make alternate version of some of Hostess brands, most will die off. Some may buy the well known NAMESAKE brands like Twinkies or Ho-Hos.
The trademarks and recipes will be sold to another company who will build factories in other countries or right-to-work states. Unions are the reason manufacturing in this country is dying.
Unions are the reason that we have a 40 hour work week, minimum wage, unemployment insurance, worker's compensation and OSHA laws. They may have gone overboard with their demands at times, but without them we would be just another third world country run by an oligarchy. We may soon be there if the corporate attempts to destroy unions completely succeeds. Right to work states have overall lower wages, and suck up far more federal dollars than they pay into the system. How is that a good thing?
Outright greed is a big problem with our country nowadays. Between CEOs and Board of Director members demanding huge salaries and compensation to stock owners demanding huge profits, we have sent so many American jobs overseas that we have destroyed our economy. One day these people will realize that they have destroyed the goose that laid the golden egg just for short-term profit. I just hope it is not too late by then to turn things back around and share the wealth – even just a little.
And the Unions appropriately deserve credit for the 40 hour work week, family leave, minimum wage etc. But we don't need Unions to keep them at this point since all of these are enshrined in legislation and it would be nearly impossible to remove them at this point. The Unions' time has come and passed.
If you knowingly sell unhealthy foods, I say that makes you as evil as any sells cigarettes. If you make them, are you any better?
You must have been twinkie deprived as a child.
But yet, the vultures will still walk away with millions while the 18K are out of work. Sometimes the lesser of two evils is wise.
If Hostess closes because of the striking workers, THE WORKERS SHOULD NOT RECEIVE ANY UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS, PERIOD.
Just an FYI, This is a strategy the CEOs are bleeding it dry and taking what they can get before they sell off the product. Nothing to do with the strikers...but in the grander scheme when working for ANYONE ELSE, what is your time worth to you??? Get mad at corporate american before hostess.
All the doomsday preppers better buy up all the Twinkies. They're similar to real food and can withstand nuclear fallout... plague rats... locusts... you name it.
Don't forget the Zombie Apocalypse! My husband and son were really counting on Twinkies and Spam to be around.
Let this be a warning to unions all over–striking when a company is trying to get out of bankruptcy is a BAD idea. Sad for the uninformed workers who were manipulated by incompetent union leaders.
I learned all about unions as a kid when I used to deliver more than a dozen different Sunday papers in the suburbs around N.Y. One by one union stirkes drove the papers out of business and many many people lost their jobs permanently.
In spite of earning a degree in accounting and a graduate degree in finance, I never could understand why the unions thought that was good.
No expired Twinnkies going home tomorrow. Search Ebay and you'll find some idiot posting them for $1000 a box. Twinkies may disappear, but not for 100 years. Rest easy, they're not gong away. Shame on AP and CNN, again and again.
It's a sad day when 5,000 greedy people close a company down and put 13,000+ people out of work.
If they did for the worlds health never to open it again, then they would be caring people. Interesting how intentions can make the same action good or bad.
Shut up and pass me a twinkie! ;)
The greed goes both way, my friend. And those at the top are just looking to further line their own pockets while those at the bottom are just trying to earn a living. It's time that we all start standing up for the little guy again instead of just kowtowing to the fat cats. Enough of that nonsense!
Well, the good news is we can all run to the store and buy up all the Twinkies in site......and know that in 5+ yrs we can sell them on E-bay for a killing!! And, they'll still be as soft and full of chemicals/preservatives as they were the day we bought them! Fact is, their products suck, and the country will be better off without this garbage in our guts!
Hostess would be doing this country a favor if they just permanently shut down their entire fat laden pastry division.
That's right, because Hostess took a large caliber weapon, pointed it at my wife and children and forced me to eat Twinkie after Twinkie. Just like I used to be threatened with torture if I didn't buy the 64oz keg of soda at the movies, thank God Mayor Bloomberg was able to save me from that travesty.
And if indeed, as your name states, they are congestive heart failure in every bite, than I am a survivor one hundred times over in my lifetime. Such melodrama. It's about choice, and if I want to eat a Twinkie I should be allowed to, just like I am allowed to drink in moderation, or visit McDonald's in a rush, just like you are entitled to picket McDonald's and munch out on a Kashi cereal bar or something.
Though for the record, Snowballs were terrible, but they still deserve to live.
Um, you don't HAVE to eat them. Personally, I like having the choice. If I wanted you as my nanny, I would have hired you.
I always found a Hostess cupcake with milk to be the best sleeping pill around, I would miss them.
Clearly Wall Street is to blame for the union requesting salary increases and additional benefits in the worst economy since the great depression..Hostess is bleeding profits..How do you become profitable again? Oh yea, lower expenses... I.e. some of the workers, including management restructure their deals DOWN...
It's amazing, but not really, that the union's want more and more and are willing to concede nothing..
One would think the realization that they will lose their jobs in a matter of hours would press the easily led and uninformed to turn about face but I guess not..
It's popular to bash Wall Street today but this once again shows the real criminals are overzealous UNION management..
I spent 22+ years in low and mid-level management with a large corporation that was put into bankruptcy by union worker's fanaticism and thuggish terror tactics against management personnel and their families, including young children. The company survived the thuggery and sabotage, but in name only because a foreign company bought it and moved most production overseas. I sincerely hope families of all the union fanatics who are unemployed because the company's former factories are now just empty shells are living well on their welfare checks during the current poor economy, but ONLY for the sake of children & wives. Those are the children and wives who the union thugs would rather see go hungry than to accept the reality that employers have limits on what they can pay in wage and benefit packages and still stay in business. Fanaticism in areas such as religious belief is somewhat understandable, but depriving one's family of an excellent wage and benefit package simply because of unreasonable hatred for the employer and blind loyalty to corrupt union bosses is madness exemplified.
No more Twinkies??? – Tallahassee is going to be crushed.
Wait- what about the powdered sugar donettes? This isn't about Twinkies- it's about donettes!
first thing I thought of was "Zombieland"
Me too. I'll bet that this is what causes the zombie apocalypse.
Me too.
Since Hostess is not based in a swing state Obama will not bail the company out. #cronyism
the world will be better off without this company and their greedy owners
The hostess junk food is fattening, non-nourishing and bad for your health anyway. I will not miss twinkies, etc.
Thank God it wasn't the Tastey Kake Company that make Butterscotch Krimpets and Chocolate Cupkates! Only those from the East Coast would remember them. Never was a Twinkie fan.
Haven't had a twinkie in years – who needs them when you can have tasty-kakes?
Twinkie die-hards (so to speak) can still get them in Canada, where Twinkies are made by another company. But seriously... 18 000 people are out of work, and all you can think about is where you'll be able to get your Twinkies?
"But seriously... 18 000 people are out of work, and all you can think about is where you'll be able to get your Twinkies?"
That's how things are in America now. Workers are unimportant.
If they didn't care enough to keep their jobs, why should anyone else? I've been unemployed for 8 months because the parent company closed our division. I haven't heard anyhone weeping for me. So yeah, right now, all I care about is laying in a supply of Ding Dongs! Mmmmmm! Waxy chocolate coating and creamy filling.
18,000 union members are out of work because of the decision of <5000 union members. They made their bed. They get to lie in it.
Yawn.... I never really got too excited about corporate bakeries.
Each of the Hostess Brands will simply be sold. Twinkies will exist again–just made by a baker that can do it without bankrupting the company over and over.
In an unrelated story, obesity and heart disease rates are expected to fall in the next few years.
EXACTLY what I was thinking when I read this. Good riddance!
Corporate Greed. Hostess is a huge profitable baking company, but erroneous spending from the higher ups caused this to happen. Lots of people will lose their jobs. Damn Shame! Hostess should have learned when they almost went bankrupt the last time.
It’s not corporate greed. It’s another example how the unions hurt jobs instead of protect them. It is time for the unions to take a hike.
You're delirious. Of course it's about corporate greed! Wake up!! HOSTESS PROFITS THIS YEAR WERE REPORTED AS $2.5 BILLION!!!!!! Are you silly enough to believe that the cost of settling labor negotiations with the baker's union (well under $1 million!) is why they're closing shop???? If so, there's no use my trying to tell you anything further, because you obviously can't see the truth that's staring you down. Hostess has been in financial trouble for YEARS - and their CEO and other high ranking company execs were pulling in HUGE SALARIES DESPITE BANKRUPTCY, ETC.
That was 2.5 billion in sales and not profit. Sales does not equal profit. Learn how to read before you give out false information.
How about this, people just quit eating them, we knew 40 years those things were bad for us. You might as well just buy a jar of Crisco and dig in if you care that little for your well being.
Seriously? This is your knee jerk (emphasis on "jerk") reaction? EVERYTHING is bad for you if eaten in excess. Spinach is making people sick on a regular basis! Being so critical of something so trivial isn't good for you either. I would reccommend you put it in check.
Obviously they are not a huge and profitable company. And where did you get the "corporate greed" assumption from?
If you do hoard them be careful! They are only good for about 10,000 years.After that there is a drop off in quality.
I once kept one opened on my desk for a year, the ants did not touch it and it still smelled good and was soft...until the secretary threw it away.
Archie Bunker's favorite lunch-box item, destroyed by greedy unions.
5 thousand unionized people have the power to put 18 thousnad people out of work? That's jacked up.
No. A bunch of suits are firing 18,000 people. The union is the fall guy.
The government needs to step in on this.
They have its called US Bankrupcy Court
No, they really don't. When Hostess is liquidated, one or more companies will buy up the products they want and will continue to produce them in the same plants. There will be some downtime, but it'll work out in the end.
More likely they will build modern automated plants in another country or a right-to-work state. They're not going to set themselves up to go through exactly the same problem.
"The government needs to step in on this."
Wrong! That's the last thing government should do in the situation. Government already has it's long snoopy nose in way too much of the economy and overall best interests of the nation and it's people. Government works best when it governs less, as was proved in the early US for decades before politicians discovered that sticking their noses into commerce and business, along with a something-for -nothing political appeal to workers, was a surefire ticket to re-election and even more power over both workers and employers. The future of the US and all of us depends on our willingness to face reality and learn to live accordingly. The days of US domination in the world economy are over, and sooner or later even the most fanatical union workers will have to realize that they're competing with labor in countries whose populations only a decade or two ago consisted mainly of .subsistence farmers and day laborers. If anyone thinks those people can't learn to efficiently build high quality products at low labor cost, you're too young to remember that my generation believed that same thing about the Japanese 60 years ago.
I can only augh at how everyone thinks they konw the story. The true story is....Hostess owners and managers have gutted this company, lined their pocket at every opportunity and expect the workers to give up everything. Everyone gets stuck on wage cuts, health insurance cuts and not wanting to go back to work but THAT IS NOT the issue.
THE ISSUE IS the Union is willing to come back to the table and make concessions, but the owners and execs like are NOT....Their was never any negotiations, the company said "my way or the high way"....so it is NOT the UNION fault, IT IS THE COMPANY THAT WILL NOT COME TO THE TABLE TO TRY TO WORK anything out or negotiate AT ALL, but then the owners and CEOs were never interested in rebuilding the company...their only interest was/is sucking as much as they can out of it and selling or liquidating in later anyway...that is what "hedge fund" type owners like "Bain Capital" do !!!!!! Heck the CEO of the company is a professional liquidator...so he knows how to do that, but has no clue how to run a baking business.
The ISSUE IS the retirement pensions of thousands of employees with 20-25 + years have been yanked from under them .... leaving them with no retirement after centuries of work, yet owners and executive giving themselve enormous raises.
We can live with wage cuts and health benefits cuts and we can deal with the jerks that call themselves managers, but how can no effort be made AT ALL by the company to do sometihing to make sure 20 – 25 year employees have some kind of retirement. The trust is gone because of all the lies since the last bankruptcy in 2004 and here we are again in bankruptcy in 2012 and a good CEO would make effort to gain back that trust a good CEO realizes how many employee have that many years invested and at least makes and effort to negotiate something to ensure they get something close to what was promised them for retirement.
You lost me when you started to blame only one side ( evil owners, all that junk, then comparing them to "Bain capital," Romney's old company ). Gee, I wonder what your political affiliation.
Your bad grammar and misspellings didn't help your cause. either, when you present us with the equivalent of a long written out diatribe.
That being said, I hope both sides can form some type of compromise, as Little Debbie sucks
Yea, but you gotta think that Little Debbie is probably saying right now, "It's all going according to plan..."
Best you can do is a grammar flame? Really? You don't work there. You're not going through what they are. We KNOW what your political affiliation is. The party of hate. The party of greed. The Republican Party.
It is one sided. Gutting the company and reducing wages and stealing the pension isn't something the employees did.
Go buy a box of Little Debbie's. It's attitudes like yours that killed Hostess.
Okay, unions, have y our way. Earn outrageous retirement benefits that the rest of us would never even think of having. And if the company miraculously stays open, the cost of a Twinkee will double, causing loss of sales, and loss of jobs.
Please quite your jobs. Tens of thousands of us would be more than happy to work for Hostess, and not require incredibly-expensive perks.
Hear, hear! Where do I apply? The dang snacks cost almost $5 a box as it is. Why can Little Debbie make them for 1/2 the cost and there really isn't much difference in quality. Processed snack cake is processed snack cake. What are they doing that Hostess isn't?
You do know people pay into their own pensions, right? The company matches a very small percentage. Now the company is taking it all. Let me guess, you also believe unemployment is a perk, right? Fool.
Loyal workers for 2 decades do deserve some security in their pensions and retirement. The Union is doing what's right by looking out for them. Minus selfishness and greed from the fat cats, this should be a non issue.
Since when it is any company's responsibility to make sure an employee saves enough money to retire? It is a help to offer retirement/pension benefits, but you should have been responsible and put your own money into savings, it is called preparing, planning and executing the plan. NOT my boss isn't giving me enough money to retire on so I want to strike. Look at how many people are currently unemployed and would LOVE the opportunity just go to a job.
Looking out for them? They got them all fired. The company is in bankruptcy and they counter with outrageous demands when the company cannot afford it. They killed the company. Everyone loses. Some friends!
I don't think it is outrageous to expect to receive benefits that were part of your compensation package for 20-25 years. These retirement benefits were PROMISED by the company. It WAS a retirement plan for thousands! You wouldn't want some stockbroker or banker to take your 401-k and say oops-sorry, I need this money now. Go find something else to live on, too bad you are in your 50's-join a soup line or something why don't ya?
Unions are a thing of the past. This same thing will happen company after company until unskilled workers are not allowed to force companies to overpay unskilled work. The job is owned by the company, not the worker. You cannot have both unions and governmental regulation that squeeze companies to lose profit. Companies are NOT in the business of making wages, they are in the business of making money–profit. Workers are not an asset, they are an expense. If you don't like it, then don't stay unskilled or maybe move to another country where the cost of living is lower such as China.
Your forgetting the Golden rule – He who has the gold makes the rule. Why would a business owner go through the headaches of owning a business unless they can make a profit? I have an idea. Why doesn't the bakers union buy the company and give everyone their job back. Then they can give everyone a raise, extra benefits, etc. What was that? there is not enough money for raises? Huh, I wonder why those other guys decided to sell this business?
Then the employees of the Union that bought the company would have to start a new union....
Yeah? Then how come the larger of the two unions could come to an agreement to save the company? If the biggest union could find a middle ground with the company, I'm sure the second one could have as well. No, the problem was the second union was just holding out for more and it blew up in their faces.
Actually there were no negotiations. The first offer that Hostess made was their Last offer...so Teamsters did not negotiate anything...they took the take it or leave it offer. The Bakes would have taken even more paycuts and worse health benefits, and woked more years if there had been some kind of effort by the company to even try to make sure some kind of retirement was there for them. When you have so much taken away, deserved or not, and when the company is in financial trouble it is hard to swallow when the execs are giving them selves huge bonuses and raises.
Also...actually Teamsters barely approved the contract and not all of the Teamsters members were allowed to vole.
There is so much more to the story than what is in the news. ..so so much more.
Guess what the CEO wants to be the Liquidator now...hmmmm how convenient for him.
What's a pension?? is that that retirement thing that all the companies that have gone belly up used to give away?
Having a job is not a RIGHT. If you don't like what the owners are doing – FIND ANOTHER JOB. No one is going to invest capital into a company and not expect a return on their investement. Why do you think communism failed. If a company is expected to operate just for the good of the workers, and not return a thing called a PROFIT, no one would care to invest or take the time to try to run a company. Quit drinking the Liberal Pro Union Kool-Aid.
If the workers care so much, why not pool resources and buy the company themselves – then they can all run it and see what is like to make no return on their money!
I was unaware that such common sense still lives in an America so taken away by Jacobin revolutionaries, anarchists, free loaders and anti-white rabble rousers.
Centuries?
"The worst crime against working people is a company which fails to operate at a profit". Samuel Gompers. The Bakers' Union would have done well to heed that like the Teamsters did.
This reminds me of Northwest Airlines.
You strike long enough, you get replaced and your strike is meaningless.
They better watch their step. There are 18,000 other people eager to fill their shoes.
Nope. No one is getting replaced and no one gets their job back, the company has shut its doors and is selling off their assets. No child will ever have to suffer biting into a snowball ever again!
Im really sad about the cupcakes, those were my favorite and far more important than 18000 people losing their jobs.
18,000 is alot of people out of work. Especially here at holiday time.
Stupid unions. Essentially they are saying, "if you don't do what we want you to do, we will shoot ourselves in the head."
Hostess wanted to raid the pension money. The Unions are better off.
The union is in a no-win situation. The company is already in chapter 11 and the next step is even worse. Wake up and smell the twinkies and drop the aditiude. They will miss them more that the union. Not anti union just a realist.
Hostess bakers please go back to work. I need my job and medical benefits. Three of us are on meds, what will we do without insurance.Please go back to work
If twinkies leave the earth, I will not be heartbroken. However, we do live in a country where nearly 1/3 of the population is obese. Bakers, you ain't winning the pr vote on this one! Even as I type, millions of people are revving up their rascals in outrage!
Another co. will buy Hostess, Colombo and Wonder Bread. Bakers please go back to work so I can keep my medical benifits. Even paying $50 a week is better than no job, no medical!
Richard, another company will not buy Hostess. Several companies will purchase Hostesses Assets. When this happens don't expect to go back to work. their will be no work. That company that just purchased the assets will not reopen the plants. they will make that product at there own plants. so 18000+ will still be out of a job.
Hey Dick Head, they aren't getting their jobs back. The company that buys the rights to the recipe will make it in their own bakery.
That was funniest thing I've read all day
Snowball....Snowball?! SNOWBALL!!! I HATE SNOWBALLS!!!!!!!
"They are not willing to take draconian wage and benefit cuts on top of the significant concessinos they made in 2004 and give up their pension so that the Wall Street vulture capitalists in control of this company can walk away with millions of dollars."
Frank Hurt then proceded to say "Yeah man, legalizing weed is legit. Big brother can't tell us what to do."
Come on...cut the act. I'm sure they are getting treated poorly and could use better pay and benefits, but no reason to go hard core liberal on the media and Wall Street about a company that makes "pastries," if you would like to even call them as such.