I read a stupid and totally ignorant person's opinion piece over on an internet bulletin board that was entitled "UNION STUPIDITY (AND OTHER REDUNDANCIES)" in which the twinkie-brain, dumbsquat with no balls, er, I mean Sno Balls, penned the following:
I like a Twinkie every once and awhile (did you know that they now have Twinkies with chocolate creme filling). But I'd be happy to forego the future opportunity for the sponge cake treat if Hostess sticks by its warning that it will begin to liquidate the company if striking union members don't return to work by the evening of November 15.Now, let's explore some other items concerning the Hostess company business fiasco. Please click onto each of the following and read what each has to offer:
The company negotiated a new contract with the Teamsters, but the Grain Millers union launched a strike last week to protest a labor deal implemented during its bankcruptcy which contained cuts in wages and benefits. The strike (which includes the facility in Northwood, Ohio) has already resulted in the closing of three Hostess factories.
The liquidation of Hostess would result in the loss of 18,000 jobs.
I'm hoping that the company stands by its position to liquidate. Unskilled workers need to get a clue that they're a dime a dozen and in this Obama-tainted economy (their union dues helped to pay for Obama Part II) they should feel lucky to have a job.
Business executives have the education, skills, and experience to find other jobs. The laborers are the ones who are striking their way right out of an income.
HOSTESS' MISMANAGEMENT
Union pay cuts and management pay raises
Creditors Say Hostess Pay Is Questionable
'Hostess Brands is a microcosm of what’s wrong with America'
Hostess Blames Union for Bankruptcy after Tripling CEO's Pay
I say Union Bash-holes, er, I mean union bashers, can kiss my grits!
For a somewhat different perspective, might I be so bold as to suggest you now turn your attention to read mi amigo, Tim Higgins' piece entitled "The Twinkie Is On Life Support (Updated)" over on Just Blowing Smoke...
9 comments:
Roland, I'm a little bit ashamed of you on this reaction, but it is your blog. The facts of the matter is this- when even your fellow unions tell you you should back off (as the Teamsters did to the BCTGM), you should get a big frackin' clue of what was going to happen. If I was in a union, I would want them to PROTECT MY JOB first and foremost. These BASH HOLES, as youcalled the tune, who represented 27% of the workforce, cost 100% of the jobs with their horse's ass attitude. Whatever mistakes (and they were many and substantial) that Hostess made, the BCTGM either KNEW they were going to cost all those jobs and didn't care, or were too flaming stupid to see reality in front of their faces. By the way, how is it that I have to hear idiots on the other side complaining about the CEO two before the current getting that big raise, when the President of the union is pulling down a quarter million himself and no one cares about that? He makes a name for himself and doesn't hurt his salary, and 13,000 workers he doesn't even represent go without Christmas. Now who is the fracking parasite?
CW:
Thank you for your candor in sharing your thoughts on this controversial (even polarizing) issue.
Well, think about it this way. A man gets into a bad car crash. His fault or someone elses, does it matter? He's in the hospital on a resperator. He has three children, old enough to make decisions but still heavily dependant on him. The doctor tells them that, given time and proper care and support, he will be all right- but will never be able to support them in the way they are accustomed. Two of them agree to do whatever they can. The third gets upset that his father has "taken away" the life he knew and without either permission or warning, unplugs the respirator and lets him die. Is this child guilty of patricide? If you don't think so, we have a conceptual gap we will never bridge. If you do, insert "Hostess" for "father", "Non-union", "Teamster" and "BCGTM" for "children", and "Bankruptcy judge" for "doctor", and try to see it that way.
Chris (CW),
Thank you. That is a very creative analogy and provides great food for thought.
Meanwhile, I hope I don't get into a car crash; I am in process of driving across the country via the southern route on my way to Mesa, Arizona having left Toledo, Ohio this morning and now spending the evening in a small community west of Nashville, Tennessee.
What a bunch of Ding-Dongs the Company had running the show! Even a Ho-Ho had more brains than they did!
Drive safely!
Hostess is an example of the perfect storm of poor management, obstinate unions, and a changing national diet.
In no specific order:
- We are no longer a white bread nation feasting on sugary deserts, but instead an increasingly calorie conscious one (which our government seeks to insure whether we like it or not), and Hostess apparently couldn't see this.
- Hostess management failed to recognize this paradigm shift and react to its market, expecting instead that it would one day return. On top of which, they failed to consistently re-invest in technology to keep their bakeries up to date.
- The Unions (though surprisingly not the Teamsters) insisted on enforcing inefficient and unsustainable work rules at Hostess in the hopes of keeping their membership up in what was becoming an industry equivalent to blacksmithing.
It is of little surprise that such a storm doomed some 18,000 workers with little little or no hope of employment survival. No one will come out the winner after such high profile devastation, and the fact that a company that had seen 3 recent bankruptcies has gone out of business should surprise no one.
Something will eventually re-emerge, but it will never be the same.
Tim- spot on!
I found a posting by a former Toledoan and endorsed Republican for Mayor of Toledo some 20 years ago, Paula Pennypacker, on Facebook to be extremely interesting. I have copied and pasted it below:
Paula Pennypacker
As a candidate for mayor of Toledo, I ran as a Republican in a sea of Democrats. I ran as a Republican because I totally bought into the right-wing rhetoric that it was the unions who were destroying my hometown. I remember standing outside in the freezing rain, watching in horror as factory after factory closed up shop. Toledo Metal Furniture and Champion Spark Plug, come to mind. I now know that I was duped.
What is happening to Hostess, by Bain Capitol-like vultures, is the cause of the decimation of urban centers like Toledo -- not unions.
Last month I went back for a visit of my hometown. What I saw was shocking. Toledo is not in a recession, she is in a depression. Thank God Romney was lying about Jeep closing.
Yes, we now live in a world where "profit is king." But no worries, Hostess was able to peal away their pension obligations in order to make this type of union busting more lucrative for the next buyer of this once great company, leaving U.S. taxpayers holding the bag. With each plant closing in urban America, it's becoming crystal clear who stole the American Dream, and it's not the union worker making $20 an hour.
I wish I knew about this when I was running for Mayor!
Twinkie Gate: Republicans Admit Hostess Closing was About Killing Unions
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