Twinkee Twinkee little star wonder where you are......... (bankruptcy, union, debt)
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Well it seems little Twinkee Twinkee will no longer be.
Some people seem to think they are entitled to a job and forgot the old term "Never bite the hand that feeds you".
Times are tough all over be it for management or workers.......still tough.
I do wonder how many of the employees purchased the Twinkees at the mkt to help support their paycheck.
Twinkees is a privately owned company and suppose that the workers could get some capital of their own and buy out the company thus being employee owned......guaranteed job security and all that goes with it.
But wait........that would be impossible as most of the workers live pay check to pay check like millions of other working folks.
Hostess being privately owned means they used some of their own money to start the company at the beginning.
Do not want to sound hardnose here but reality is still reality and the chips fall where they may if the wrong cards are played as one small union did for the vast number to be soon unemployed.
Probably a long time coming. Who buys that crap anymore? That's not an issue of greedy workers who want to extract every last bit they can from their employer. That's a matter of people not buying many twinkees these days. None the less, it's a perfect opportunity to demonize the worker and their pursuit of a livable wage, with the help of their union.
Here's a question... What has Hostess and their high paid corporate brains done to turn that company around? What new and innovative products have they developed to regain lost market share? How do they plan to make the company competitive again? Following the same failed course and demanding labor work cheaper simply won't cut it. If the workers accepted the compromise, it would only buy the company a slower death.
I don't think folks in Russia and Mexico take to bashing the labor class quite the way we do. And it should come as no surprise... Our incomes are falling while theirs are rising. At least we'll make for a rather pleasant 3rd world country by comparison, when the majority is working for a nickle above minimum wage of course...
Irregardless, I do hope the company pulls through. I do enjoy their Beefsteak rye bread. I wish they could offer other products that resemble real food, for the sake of their workers.
Probably a long time coming. Who buys that crap anymore? That's not an issue of greedy workers who want to extract every last bit they can from their employer. That's a matter of people not buying many twinkees these days. None the less, it's a perfect opportunity to demonize the worker and their pursuit of a livable wage, with the help of their union.
Here's a question... What has Hostess and their high paid corporate brains done to turn that company around? What new and innovative products have they developed to regain lost market share? How do they plan to make the company competitive again? Following the same failed course and demanding labor work cheaper simply won't cut it. If the workers accepted the compromise, it would only buy the company a slower death.
I don't think folks in Russia and Mexico take to bashing the labor class quite the way we do. And it should come as no surprise... Our incomes are falling while theirs are rising. At least we'll make for a rather pleasant 3rd world country by comparison, when the majority is working for a nickle above minimum wage of course...
Irregardless, I do hope the company pulls through. I do enjoy their Beefsteak rye bread. I wish they could offer other products that resemble real food, for the sake of their workers.
Well said!
And so what if employee's of Hostess didn't buy their products? Should their employee's go into a diabetic fit just to support their employer? Even so, if they were to buy their products, I still don't think it would have helped. When was the last time you have seen some worthwhile advertising campaign coming from Hostess?
Sort of like saying that Kodak suffered because their workers didn't buy enough of their film cameras while the rest of the world changed with the times and bought digital cameras.
First as far as a private business model -- this a conglomerate that has been buying up smaller operations for decades, and labeling it as their own. End game was they put together a big mess they could not manage.
But no real loss in it all . . . Big tree falls in the forest means little trees can sprout up and grow.
Would love to see some of the former bakery employees open their own small bread, tortilla, and snack operations.
Probably a long time coming. Who buys that crap anymore? That's not an issue of greedy workers who want to extract every last bit they can from their employer. That's a matter of people not buying many twinkees these days. None the less, it's a perfect opportunity to demonize the worker and their pursuit of a livable wage, with the help of their union.
Here's a question... What has Hostess and their high paid corporate brains done to turn that company around? What new and innovative products have they developed to regain lost market share? How do they plan to make the company competitive again? Following the same failed course and demanding labor work cheaper simply won't cut it. If the workers accepted the compromise, it would only buy the company a slower death.
I don't think folks in Russia and Mexico take to bashing the labor class quite the way we do. And it should come as no surprise... Our incomes are falling while theirs are rising. At least we'll make for a rather pleasant 3rd world country by comparison, when the majority is working for a nickle above minimum wage of course...
Irregardless, I do hope the company pulls through. I do enjoy their Beefsteak rye bread. I wish they could offer other products that resemble real food, for the sake of their workers.
IMO, unions often PREVENT innovation to become more competitive - ie, I heard the bakery items and the bread items COULD NOT be transported and delivered in the same trucks; union rules wouldn't allow to combine deliveries and save. Union rules like that don't allow a company many options to become "more competitive".
Example -- my mom worked for a BIG power company in CA - and she was temporarily reassigned to an office 45 miles away. Each day she would go to her regular office, get company car and drive to the other office, on company time, etc. BUT --- the UNION RULES wouldn't let her put the MAIL BAG in the trunk because it wasn't in her job description. Someone else had to DRIVE THE MAIL BAG the same 45 miles!! (BOTH WAYS!)
Unions don't have a vested interest in improving a business!! Never have, never will. They only want more workers = more dues.
IMO, unions often PREVENT innovation to become more competitive - ie, I heard the bakery items and the bread items COULD NOT be transported and delivered in the same trucks; union rules wouldn't allow to combine deliveries and save. Union rules like that don't allow a company many options to become "more competitive".
Example -- my mom worked for a BIG power company in CA - and she was temporarily reassigned to an office 45 miles away. Each day she would go to her regular office, get company car and drive to the other office, on company time, etc. BUT --- the UNION RULES wouldn't let her put the MAIL BAG in the trunk because it wasn't in her job description. Someone else had to DRIVE THE MAIL BAG the same 45 miles!! (BOTH WAYS!)
Unions don't have a vested interest in improving a business!! Never have, never will. They only want more workers = more dues.
If you want to nitpick the annoying rules, I'll agree with you there. Not to mention this country and it's people seem to have a disposition towards plunder and greed. Both sides of the table in that regard. Problem is greed on either side is unsustainable and often counter productive. Expecting your workforce to work cheaper and cheaper so you can make money is merely a crutch. Ultimately, the company has to do the hard work of figuring out how they will remain competitive. Many unions in this country have also resembled something of parasitic drags. Not all, but enough that they have really tainted the image of all unions.
What is happening is the pendulum is swinging. Unions sound awful now to the general public. Once corporations completely ravage the landscape and have complete control, people will identify corporations as the new enemy. That is already happening.
Question we should be asking... Why are many companies with unionized workforces elsewhere competitive and profitable, while the companies here seem to be going bankrupt... Folks in Germany cannot understand how such a great country can't seem to afford living wages for a greater majority and strong unions.
Question we should be asking... Why are many companies with unionized workforces elsewhere competitive and profitable, while the companies here seem to be going bankrupt... Folks in Germany cannot understand how such a great country can't seem to afford living wages for a greater majority and strong unions.
Europeans don't want to admit that their over-hyped economy only protects a portion of their labor force -- and only in the wealthier, more-developed nations which can afford it. What works in Germany works to a much lesser degree in Spain, and not at all in Greece. And let's not forget the army of Middle Eastren gastarbeiten (guest workers) who will slowly subjugate Europe through no other means thn a higher birth rate.
The post previous to yours hit the nail squarely on the head. Labor unions are nothing but fight promoters. They "work" (that is, actuallly have some leverage in protecting their membership) only in industries where a lot of capital is invested per worker -- oil refining, chemicals, utilities. The boob with the broom and the toilet brush is easily replaced, and if the order-pickers want more, there's a vacant warehouse in a place with milder labor laws -- somewhere.
Hostess can't "win"; they're caught between the loss of their customer base (New Puritan Nannies, take note) and a union that probably guesses (and correctly) that "voting for unemployment" is more palatable for many of the membership than giving ground. Inventing new products takes money and is very risky. "Consumers" are notoriously fickle -- what do you expect when Madison Avenue is conditioned to tailor its thinking to a 14-year-old?
There are undoubtedly a few segments of the business which are still profiatable, and physical propery can ofen be sold, rented, or adapted to some other use. That, unfortunately, is not the case for a 55-year-old with health problems possibly self-induced via tobacco, etc, and a worthless union card.
Last edited by 2nd trick op; 11-17-2012 at 04:24 PM..
Hostess being privately owned means they used some of their own money to start the company at the beginning..
That was a long time ago. It was no longer owned by those who started it.
Hostess had a Private Equity (Vulture Capitalist) for an owner. That was it's downfall. The Unions could have attributed something, but it was doomed anyways.
Hostess was already planning on shutting down plants. It's what private equity people do.
When they buy a company, they saddle it with debt. They strip away at its fat, making it lean as can be. They're only concerned with the short term, as in 3-5 years they'll want to sell it off.
They pocket as much cash as they can. When the 3-5 year mark comes, they look to offload it onto someone else. If they cannot find anyone, they let it go to bankruptcy and liquidate it.
They've made their money back. and then usually hundreds of millions extra that they skimmed off it. They left all the debt with the company, so it goes with the bankruptcy.
As soon as it said they had 7 CEOs in 10 years... it became obvious this is the work of private equity and their mess.
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They only want more workers = more dues.
