Hostess, maker of Twinkies and Ding Dongs, says closing business

reply to post by JohnnyCanuck


Sure, it was bad management to let the unions help them get $3 Billion in debt! They should have followed the Walmart plan and fired everyone that ever mentioned a Union, and banned them from the premises, and got an injunction from them even buying a Hostess product!

Unions were important a century ago, but these days we have plenty of Labor Laws that make unions entirely obsolete. Nowadays a Union only serves to bilk the employee and employer for protections that are already guaranteed by law. They take money to ensure their own existence and influence politics, but they do nothing to help employee or employer. In fact, what Unions do is technically illegal, because they are charging people for something that is already guaranteed by law for free.

An HR department and a 401k plan does the same thing as a Union, but they do it for 20% of the cost and 1% of the legal headaches, and none of the backlash, negative PR, and political commentary.

reply to post by jhn7537


Sorry to hear about your brother losing his Job.


Did he say they supported what the Union was pushing? What was his take on it, if I may ask?

reply to post by proximo


Fair point.

If the unions really had the workers best interests in mind, it shouldn't have come to this.

But, in the same breath, if Hostess were doing as badly as it seems, this strike probably just brought the inevitable forward a few weeks/months.

No more Snowballs.

This is sad news for iconic junk food. Twinkies etc. Who hasn't indulged in this guilty pleasure?

I don't know that I have seen a union break a company like this before, talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face!

reply to post by Iamschist


I agree actually.

I hope the Poster whos brother lost his Job, could give me a little more info on it.


I indulge in the guilty pleasure myself.....

Originally posted by sonnny1
reply to post by buster2010

 

Other Company's have had to make drastic changes, to survive.

The B.C.T.G.M. International Union stands in full and uncompromising support of our striking members.”

Will that help those workers who don't have a job now? Will the Union pay for its employees to be out of work?

Actually some unions do pay their members when they are out of work or on strike. And yes other companies did make drastic changes to survive but how many of them screwed their employees over to do it?

Originally posted by buster2010


Actually some unions do pay their members when they are out of work or on strike.

Yeah, but they are out of JOBS.

18000.

Will the Union find all these people JOBS?

Again, If a company says it will have to close its doors, if the workers dont come back to work, WHY would you not go back to work?



I think sticking to your guns, just cost these people their pink slips.

Originally posted by buster2010

And yes other companies did make drastic changes to survive but how many of them screwed their employees over to do it?

You'll have to decide for yourself what "screwed their employees" means to you.

Accept a pay cut and a pension reduction but still have a job? You're always free to find another.
Close up shop and everyone loses their jobs? Now everyone has to find another.

Originally posted by sonnny1
reply to post by jhn7537

 

Sorry to hear about your brother losing his Job.


Did he say they supported what the Union was pushing? What was his take on it, if I may ask?

He said that this was no surprise coming (well the strike at least) with the bankruptcy courts forcing new contracts on them... I spoke with him last night and he was hopeful that a deal would be made, unfortunately for him when he wakes up today he is going to be delivered the bad news... He stayed optimistic like many of the workers, but in the end it just didn't work out

I can't really blame it on the union for "killing the company". If it got to the point of a nation-wide strike, then working conditions weren't what they should have been and that's the company's fault.

It's not the total blame of one side or the other, both have some degree of guilt in it. However, the company has a responsibility to provide decent working conditions and decent pay for the job done. Apparently they weren't doing that or the company wouldn't be going under regardless of what a union did or didn't do.

They can't expect people to work for slave-wages nor can they expect to keep a happy and productive workforce if they are unwilling to meet any employee demands whatsoever.

It doesn't matter if there was a strike or no strike, if the company had been performing as it should have been, this would not have happened.

If you, as a compnay, continue to operate in a union state, following union demands, you are an idiot and might need to be sold.

I hate that this is happening to Hostess. It is a combination of clueless employees putting faith in a union, a greedy union that is out for its own benefit, not the employees, and a stupid company management that (like many other companies in this nation) continue to play by union rules.

I hope they are able to somehow start up shop again no matter how small in a Right to Work state such as mine. Then the unions won't have the power to hold an entire corporation hostage.

Originally posted by sonnny1

Originally posted by buster2010


Actually some unions do pay their members when they are out of work or on strike.

Yeah, but they are out of JOBS.

18000.

Will the Union find all these people JOBS?

Again, If a company says it will have to close its doors, if the workers dont come back to work, WHY would you not go back to work?

I think sticking to your guns, just cost these people their pink slips.

Do you even know what unions do or are you just mouthing off? Unions do help their members find jobs duh that is one of the things that members pay dues for. And no I would not go back to work for a company that wants me to take a pay cut but gives upper management raises upwards to 80%.

In March 2012, Brian Driscoll resigned from his position as CEO.[17] Gregory Rayburn, who had been hired and named Chief Restructuring Officer only nine days earlier, assumed the leadership position. Fortune reported that unions within the organization had been unhappy with Driscoll's proposed compensation package of $1.5 million, plus cash incentives and a $1.95 million "long term compensation" package. Additionally, the court had discovered that Hostess executives had received raises of up to 80% the year prior. In an effort to restore relations, Rayburn cut the salaries of the four top Hostess executives to $1, to be restored on January 1 the following year.

Hostess Brands

reply to post by PurpleChiten


But.....

The Teamsters union, which represents 7,500 Hostess workers, has been sharply critical of the smaller Bakers' decision to strike, saying it was forcing the company to the cusp of liquidation. The Teamsters said Thursday that the Bakers' union should hold a secret ballot vote on the company's offer, rather than the voice votes that were held in union halls around the country that authorized the decision to strike.

and....

"It is difficult for Teamster members to believe that is what the [Bakers union] Hostess members ultimately wanted to accomplish when they went out on strike," said the Teamsters' statement.

Hostess Brands closing for good


Even the Teamsters were wondering why?

Originally posted by Chadwickus
reply to post by sonnny1

 

What will the yanks eat during the apocalypse now??

But seriously though, this is terrible news for all those workers.

How is this terrible news for the striking workers.
It's what they set out to do.
They all need a big headline at the top of their resumes.

"Helped put American Icon and long time employer out of business."

What some people don't get is that most businesses aren't built to make people rich. They are built to do something the originator loves to do and to provide an income. Most businesses simply don't pull the profit margins that are needed to make everybody as much money as they want. These are called entry level jobs.

You want more money, you have to find a different job that pays more or you have to start a business of your own.
Or you can cripple a business you work for and watch your job go away.
When the business is unprofitable, it becomes a liability and must be shut down.

reply to post by badgerprints


Were all 18000 employees unionists?

Genuine question.

Thanks to these lazy union swine I cant have my god damn ding dongs? Fire the losers, there are plenty of folks who would be glad to have that job

Originally posted by buster2010


Do you even know what unions do or are you just mouthing off? Unions do help their members find jobs duh that is one of the things that members pay dues for. And no I would not go back to work for a company that wants me to take a pay cut but gives upper management raises upwards to 80%.

I highly doubt the "bakers" Union will find 18000k people, jobs. Who are you kidding? Maybe with your logic Detroit will be operating to full capacity, next week.......

The Teamsters union, which represents 7,500 Hostess workers, has been sharply critical of the smaller Bakers' decision to strike, saying it was forcing the company to the cusp of liquidation. The Teamsters said Thursday that the Bakers' union should hold a secret ballot vote on the company's offer, rather than the voice votes that were held in union halls around the country that authorized the decision to strike.

Hostess Brands closing for good

Mismanagement has a lot to play. So does walking out, KNOWING you are going to lose your job.......

reply to post by sonnny1


How can they call themselves bakers with a straight face?

I did a stint in a large bagel factory, sorry, bakery, while in college. Dumping 50 pound bags of ingredients into a giant tub mixer and pouring it into pans on a conveyor belt that sends the product to automated ovens and creme injectors isn't what I'd call baking.

A drunk ape could do that work.

Originally posted by Chadwickus


Were all 18000 employees unionists?

Genuine question.

I think at least 13k....from what I read.