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There were many reasons Hostess was struggling, but it appears to me that the unions were the primary cause of collapse.
FRESH INFUSION OF MONEY
That reorganization took five years, cut $110 million in annual labor costs, and gave the company a fresh infusion of money. But the revamping left Hostess with more debt than it started with, and it was still saddled it with a cumbersome labor structure -- issues that made it inevitable that the company would return to bankruptcy court, experts said.
Even though the company got some union concessions during its first reorganization and cut 10,000 jobs, its labor issues remained overwhelming: Its work force was 83 percent unionized and the company had to negotiate with 12 separate unions. Its 372 collective-bargaining agreements required Hostess to maintain 80 different health and benefit plans and 40 pension plans. Its three dozen bakeries served 5,500 delivery routes and 500 distribution centers. Hostess' failure simmered for years | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram
Stupid question. Why didn't the executives drive the trucks and bake the products themselves. The union workers aren't supposed to know how to run a company. The ones running the company, or trying to, are.
And that's why they don't care if a company loses money while they demand MORE.
Maybe those union leaders should take a course or two and learn how business operates.
Either way..the unions won didn't they ? They held out and the company went into bankruptcy and they all lost their jobs.
Only the owners regrouped and bought the assets and get to start all over again.
That's called a race to the bottom until American workers make as little as the lowest foreign worker. It's also why corporate profits are breaking records while worker pay is stagnant.
Are corporate profits breaking records? As a percentage of revenue?
Productivity is usually reported as something like revenue per employee. How much of that is simply because our economic output is more associated today with high technology, higher margin business like information technology instead of lower margin businesses such as manufacturing?
There were many reasons Hostess was struggling, but it appears to me that the unions were the primary cause of collapse.
FRESH INFUSION OF MONEY
That reorganization took five years, cut $110 million in annual labor costs, and gave the company a fresh infusion of money. But the revamping left Hostess with more debt than it started with, and it was still saddled it with a cumbersome labor structure -- issues that made it inevitable that the company would return to bankruptcy court, experts said.
Even though the company got some union concessions during its first reorganization and cut 10,000 jobs, its labor issues remained overwhelming: Its work force was 83 percent unionized and the company had to negotiate with 12 separate unions. Its 372 collective-bargaining agreements required Hostess to maintain 80 different health and benefit plans and 40 pension plans. Its three dozen bakeries served 5,500 delivery routes and 500 distribution centers. Hostess' failure simmered for years | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram
I doubt the average twinkie eater cares whether they are union made or not. I never like twinkies, I like ding-dongs. I can't remember the last time I had one.
If hostess was a new start-up, just introducing Twinkies, cup-cakes and ding-dongs...I bet most of us would never buy them.
Now it's a labor thing. Like cracker barrel and chic o fillet. Its about making a statement.
Pig out America...Keep 1500 American workers working. We have so little to cheer for.
Those workers could have been working for free and the rightwing would say it was their fault because they should have contributed money from their night jobs
Correct. Pretty soon ~ we'll be paying corporations/employers for the mere privilege of working there. That will make the plutocracy happy.
There were many reasons Hostess was struggling, but it appears to me that the unions were the primary cause of collapse.
FRESH INFUSION OF MONEY
That reorganization took five years, cut $110 million in annual labor costs, and gave the company a fresh infusion of money. But the revamping left Hostess with more debt than it started with, and it was still saddled it with a cumbersome labor structure -- issues that made it inevitable that the company would return to bankruptcy court, experts said.
Even though the company got some union concessions during its first reorganization and cut 10,000 jobs, its labor issues remained overwhelming: Its work force was 83 percent unionized and the company had to negotiate with 12 separate unions. Its 372 collective-bargaining agreements required Hostess to maintain 80 different health and benefit plans and 40 pension plans. Its three dozen bakeries served 5,500 delivery routes and 500 distribution centers. Hostess' failure simmered for years | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram
Hormel, Claud, Hormel.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ringo1
Correct. Pretty soon ~ we'll be paying corporations/employers for the mere privilege of working there. That will make the plutocracy happy.
A company doesnt exist to lose money, does not invest millions dollars in a plant and workers so it can lose all its money and go broke. No companies NO JOBS, no jobs no money and all the workers are looking for government to take care of them. See GM.
End of story next
My advise to workers if your working for **** pay get some experience and knowledge and switch jobs!!!
If companies doesnt see your hard work find something or someone that will. If you have some experience apply someone else and or look for a new line of work.
A company doesnt exist to lose money, does not invest millions dollars in a plant and workers so it can lose all its money and go broke. No companies NO JOBS, no jobs no money and all the workers are looking for government to take care of them. See GM.
End of story next
My advise to workers if your working for **** pay get some experience and knowledge and switch jobs!!!
If companies doesnt see your hard work find something or someone that will. If you have some experience apply someone else and or look for a new line of work.
You know - no one is opposed to companies making a profit. There's a middle ground here.
Making an obscene profit while their employees qualify for Medicaid - another story.
CEO's of a company than ran into the ground making millions in bonus dollars - I got a problem with.
Working more for less - par for the course for the weary middle class these days - problem. We support the wealthy AND the poor; and we're getting tired of it. Stagnant raises; more work - it's pretty much a epidemic for those who survived the massive layoffs of the past ten years.
The CEO making ten million times more than the average employee - just ain't right. After all, it wasn't like that back in the 50's that conservatives and champions of the plutocracy seem so fond of.
And that's why they don't care if a company loses money while they demand MORE.
Maybe those union leaders should take a course or two and learn how business operates.
Either way..the unions won didn't they ? They held out and the company went into bankruptcy and they all lost their jobs.
Only the owners regrouped and bought the assets and get to start all over again.
The unions weren't demanding MORE. They were simply refusing to GIVE MORE while the executives gave themselves huge bonuses and pay raises
The unions weren't demanding MORE. They were simply refusing to GIVE MORE while the executives gave themselves huge bonuses and pay raises.
And yes, the union did lose and the company did win. That's the way it always ****ing is and it damn sure isn't anything to be proud of. Unless you consider people who're worth tens of millions of dollars stealing the pensions of people working paycheck to paycheck something to be proud of. Do you think the union would have won if they had accepted this latest demand for a pay and benefit cut? (That's "latest" as in they'd already taken pay and benefit cuts) That wouldn't have worked, It would have lasted for a few months at most and then the company would be demanding more pay and benefit cuts. They would have kept doing that until the union finally said enough is enough and the company went bankrupt and they blamed it on the union. Either way the executives get millions and the workers lose out and we have people in this country with the company's **** so far down their throats that all they can see is the company.
I have my doubts that even this new one is here to stay or even intended to stay. They got tens of millions the last time hey why not do it again? The only problem is there's no union to blame it on but that's no problem, just treat the workers like **** until they start a union and then when the company folds they can blame it on the unions while they go to the bank to cash their huge checks
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