Hooray!!!! Hostess Brands closing for good page 5

[Lynna]

I never liked Hostess products. Now, Tastykake was a different story. Their product was so much better. That and Drakes Ring Dings when they were their own company before Hostess bought them.

[Lynna]

If you believe in the corporate hierarchy, I'm surely not going to change your mind. $1 executives are rarely getting $1 once you factor in bonuses, stock options, etc.

As to unions, the unions in this country have been so de-balled since Reagan that I'm surprised any even exist anymore.

This company has already filed for bankruptcy twice. You won't change my mind that it's because workers want more money.

And that's fine. Sometimes I agree with you and sometimes I don't. No big and it's all good.

It wasn't necessarily over the workers demanding more money.


The contract Hostess wanted to impose on BCTGM workers includes:

-- An immediate 8 percent wage cut.

-- Shifting 20 percent more of health care costs onto the workers (for some workers, this would mean an increased cost of $240 a month for medical insurance).

-- Eliminating retiree Medigap insurance, which covers gaps in Medicare.

-- Eliminating Pension Supplement to pay health and funeral costs.

-- Closing an undisclosed 10 to 12 plants.

-- Eliminating the eight-hour day, which would mean no time-and-a-half pay after eight hours per day.

In addition, the company illegally froze pension contributions mandated under the contract for all of 2012, in violation of federal law. This is still being contested before the National Labor Relations Board.

Also Hostess went through 7 CEOs in the last decade, some executives got raises up to 80% in 2011.

[Lynna]

And another
BCTGM members are well aware that as the company was preparing to file for bankruptcy earlier this year, the then CEO of Hostess was awarded a 300 percent raise (from approximately $750,000 to $2,550,000) and at least nine other top executives of the company received massive pay raises. One such executive received a pay increase from $500,000 to $900,000 and another received one taking his salary from $375,000 to $656,256.

Hostess Blames Union For Bankruptcy After Tripling CEO's Pay | ThinkProgress

[EyeOfRound]

I've never actually tried a Twinkie, Ho-ho, or a Ding Dong - I got fat on the REALLY good stuff! So I'm actually totally ok with it.

[Diana Renata]

A failure of the Unions is no reason to celebrate. It's not like the habits of Americans had changed. They'll just get their sugar fix somewhere else. In the meantime there are thousands of families without incomes.

Very shortsighted post, OP. *smh*

[AlanC]

First off, when there is a union in a given industry, even "non union shops" benefit as the wages they have to pay are higher.

That just means the price of the product goes up, meaning more people will shift towards other products or classes of products. You see the problem isn't if the union does or doesn't have enough power to force management to pay them more, the problem is that they cannot force or threaten the consumer into paying more.

So saying 'Even if only some are in the union, prices go up' is NOT a positive.

Secondly, where is the power balance when workers don't have the right to come together as a group to balance the power in labor negotiations?

I'm not sure I see the "balance" when dozen, hundreds or even thousands of workers gang up on the owner or management team?

You also seem to be confusing the real world with some kind of kindergarten 'fairness' factor. Again, consumers don't care. Where's the "balance" between a little tiny company like Hostess, and the human population of Planet Earth?

It's about pleasing that population, ie the consumers, not just your secondary school teacher.

I'm sure the unions did a great job of convincing the workers that the company was bluffing, things weren't really that bad, the company was only closing down a dozen plants because... what? They were "greedy"?

Still, what a victory brothers and sistas, y'all closed down the company and lost your jobs in the middle of a recession. Way to go unions! That learn it them!

United (and unemployed) forever!



AC

[counterpuncher]

And another
BCTGM members are well aware that as the company was preparing to file for bankruptcy earlier this year, the then CEO of Hostess was awarded a 300 percent raise (from approximately $750,000 to $2,550,000) and at least nine other top executives of the company received massive pay raises. One such executive received a pay increase from $500,000 to $900,000 and another received one taking his salary from $375,000 to $656,256.

But that's o.k......
It's the union's fault.
Let's not cloud the issue with facts.
Great posts Lynna.

[kenn]

People talking about upper management raises fail to understand it is a drop in the bucket compared to the half billion paid to union employees.

[BONZ]

Well, I will say there's nothing cool about 18,500 families potentially losing a breadwinner right before the holidays. Unions are dying a slow death, while fat F#$%s like Trumpka keep rollin' in dough. The dues payers suffer when it all blows up, not the top guys. They'll still be dining at the White house. When enough business has fled mandatory union States they'll drop those laws as well, the Feds can only subsidize unionized industry for so long. Oh, and the NLRB can suck a fat baby's D!6K...... if there was ever a waste of a bureaucratic organization that was it. Talk about perpetuating the corporatist BS....

[sbhikes]

I am just bummed there won't be another chance to have one of those raspberry coconut ball things. I think I only had one one time. They were always hard to find. And sad no more fruit pies and ding dongs. Must learn to make primal versions of these things.

P.S. I think Bimbo Bakery can take up the slack with their knock-offs.