View Full Version : No more Twinkies
http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/16/news/economy/hostess-jobs/index.html
Another casualty of over-zealous union demands. According to this article, some of the employees were making $20/hr and had access to health insurance.
What are your thoughts on this story, or on unions in general?
Another casualty of over-zealous union demands.
They got what they deserved.
They got what they deserved.
Yup. Foot, meet bullet.
Welcome to the real world.
The real tragedy here is the loss of twinkies, not the loss of union jobs.
I panic bought some twinkies in prep for this. They are locked in my gun room.
Never liked Twinkies but I love their coconut donuts. Unions:rolleyes:
No more Twinkies, Ding Dongs or Wonder Bread... Thanks a lot union, thug assholes! Now there's 18k people out of a job for Christmas time, hope they're happy. I'm glad to see that the owners of the company stood up to them but sad they're having to close the doors in the process.
Now try to go start your own company you whiny bitches! What's that? You can't? Because you're expecting someone else to give you a job, not make a profit, and pay you exhorbitant wages and benefits.
Stupid ****s.
Doc Safari
11-16-12, 15:13
At one time in this country unions were a legitimate way of fighting back against organizations that were more than willing to make their employees work for low wages, in unsafe conditions, and whatnot.
Unfortunately, as with everything else, unions have become self-perpetuating entities whose only real purpose is to continue to exist and exercise power.
As usual, the little guy is the victim.
Straight Shooter
11-16-12, 15:17
Not the first, or one hundreth time a union has shut down a plant, and damn sure wont be the last, either. I cannot fathom, in this day & age,
anyone "striking". Being asked to take a paycut of 4% over 5 years is not much to ask, compared to being out of a job that had health benefits too. So...**** em and feed em fish heads, I say. Now, 18,500 people are out of work, and another American company GONE.
THANKS, UNIONS!
BTW- in a first for me anyway, the Teamsters CROSSED PICKET LINES
to try to negotiate a deal, and after seeing Hostess' books,realized how bad financally they were, and the "strikers"...aka BUMS...STILL wouldnt make a deal. Lets see how well the union takes care of 18,500 unemployed people now.
nineteenkilo
11-16-12, 15:19
Lets see how well the union takes care of 18,500 unemployed people now.
That task is now our responsibility.
We obviously have TOO MANY JOBS in this country. I guess the former workers felt they had a better back up plan to collect unemployment, food stamps, etc. than to work not have the company (after second bankruptcy filing) not contribute to their 401K plan.
Maye the teamsters who did settle with the company will beat the crap out of the bakers who destroyed all of their jobs.
Walmart workers and LAX Airport workers are talking about going on strike as well.
That task is now our responsibility.
100% correct
Walmart workers and LAX Airport workers are talking about going on strike as well.
Good. Every company whose employees strike should immediately liquidate. And the owners/majority share holders should move to Galts Gulch and disappear.
Geeesh! Was there really a run on Twinkies at the stores today? Come on people, you'd think they were made by a secret society of the five wealthiest people in the world, known as The Pentavirate, who run everything in the world, including the newspapers, and meet tri-annually at a secret country mansion in Colorado, known as The Meadows.
Who is the Pentavirate you ask?
I'll tell you who. The Queen, The Vatican, The Gettys, The Rothschilds, and Colonel Sanders before he went tits up. Oh, I hated the Colonel with is wee beady eyes, and that smug look on his face. "Oh, you're gonna buy my chicken! Ohhhhh!"
Seriously though, Twinkies are/were good but it's not like they put an addictive chemical in the Twinkies that makes you crave it fortnightly!
Geeesh! Was there really a run on Twinkies at the stores today? Come on people, you'd think they were made by a secret society of the five wealthiest people in the world, known as The Pentavirate, who run everything in the world, including the newspapers, and meet tri-annually at a secret country mansion in Colorado, known as The Meadows.
Who is the Pentavirate you ask?
I'll tell you who. The Queen, The Vatican, The Gettys, The Rothschilds, and Colonel Sanders before he went tits up. Oh, I hated the Colonel with is wee beady eyes, and that smug look on his face. "Oh, you're gonna buy my chicken! Ohhhhh!"
Seriously though, Twinkies are/were good but it's not like they put an addictive chemical in the Twinkies that makes you crave it fortnightly!
Ran out of meds?
Ran out of meds?
Nope. Ten bonus points to anyone who gets the reference though. :D
Reagans Rascals
11-16-12, 16:48
well I'm sure the NLRB will have more to say about this...
just as they did about Boeing...
Unions have and always will be about greed.... not fair labor practices... its about the workers feeling entitled to something they aren't...
I could tell you stories and stories about the bullshit labor practices of the Union that makes the things that many of you depend on every single day and has saved many of your lives (Kevlar :secret:)....
I've never understood the mentality that you are owed or entitled to the money that the company makes... the company that has so gracefully blessed you with employment might I add....
poor and unsafe working conditions are 1 thing.... but simply striking because you feel you are entitled to more than $32 an hour (who I mentioned before :secret:) ... with no education is tantamount to lunacy...
Reagans Rascals
11-16-12, 16:50
Nope. Ten bonus points to anyone who gets the reference though. :D
sounds an awful lot like Stuart speak from "So I Married an Axe Murder" to me... aka.. Mike Myers
sounds like dad speak from "So I Married an Axe Murder" to me...
Well done sir, well done. :D
May we have a moment of silence for the profound loss of Twinkies.
Who cares about Twinkies? It's the Apple Pies man. The Apple Pies!
At least Little Debby still makes the little bite-sized donuts (in chocolate or powdered sugar).
-
100% correct
Good. Every company whose employees strike should immediately liquidate. And the owners/majority share holders should move to Galts Gulch and disappear.
Agree. Or perhaps relocate factories to business friendly states (right to work, etc.). I predict that soon we will have some states declaring themselves as true enterprise zones and promise to shield them from federal intrusion: EPA, OSHA, IRS, etc. Not there yet, but when many, many businesses in a state go belly up, a few states will choose to ignore the federal govt and do what they have to to retain what business they can.
Govt often forgets that people ALWAYS have a choice. They may accept a lot of crap for many years, but if pushed far enough some people will exercise outside-the-box options the govt doesn't even think about.
Be prepared!!!
8 ounces (two sticks) unsalted butter (melted)
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 ¾ cups all purpose flour
¼ corn meal or polenta
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 ¼ cups buttermilk
Whisk together butter, sugar, eggs and buttermilk. Fold in dry ingredients. Spoon into prepared moulds and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. Once cool, trim the tops and inject filling.
Filling
16 ounces cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1 vanilla bean scraped and pod discarded
SeriousStudent
11-16-12, 18:46
I don't want to be the one to tell Woody Harrelson that there are no more Twinkies.
Moose-Knuckle
11-16-12, 19:26
Fear not America . . . Barrys got this one too. :neo:
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/nationalize-twinkie-industry/cJz0ngJR
PrivateCitizen
11-16-12, 19:36
The unions didn't believe they'd do it …
Turns out Twinkie the Kid has a set of brass ding-dongs … Oh, Yes HE DID!
:D
Fear not America . . . Barrys got this one too. :neo:
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/nationalize-twinkie-industry/cJz0ngJR
http://i.imgur.com/CcNt6.gif
Mauser KAR98K
11-16-12, 19:38
Here comes the next bail (and pay out for 2012). Too Sweet To Fail.
Damn Unions will be the death of us.
The unions didn't believe they'd do it …
Turns out Twinkie the Kid has a set of brass ding-dongs … Oh, Yes HE DID!
:D
HaHa! So right. Unions forge that OWNERS/INVESTORS fund a company to get a good RETURN on their INVESTMENT, not just to pay employees as much as possible. If expenses get so high the owners can not expect a decent ROI then why keep it going? Shut it down, and redirect what they can recover to something more profitable.
The employees should have offered to uy out the owners and run it as a co-op (after they booted the union to hell).
Action <---> Reaction is a bitch.
If expenses get so high the owners can not expect a decent ROI then why keep it going? Shut it down, and redirect what they can recover to something more profitable.
I actually think this will be a big win for the owner(s) as they still have the assets of the rights to the products they are no longer going to make.
They can sell these rights to a baker in a RTW state, make a whole bunch of money doing so, we still get our twinkies and ding dongs and the previous owner(s) make some money and get rid of a big headache.
Am I wrong for being glad a bunch of obama voters will be out of a job right before Christmas?
lethal dose
11-16-12, 21:28
Surprised Obama didn't bail them out.
I'm waiting for somebody to buy all the Hostess IP and set up shop somewhere in the south - closer to their real die hard fan market anyway.
AustinN4 is dead on. The owners get to start fresh, and the market will be itching for their return.
I actually think this will be a big win for the owner(s) as they still have the assets of the rights to the products they are no longer going to make.
They can sell these rights to a baker in a RTW state, make a whole bunch of money doing so, we still get our twinkies and ding dongs and the previous owner(s) make some money and get rid of a big headache.
One of the articles I read said that the current owner(s) (led by some private equity firm) will end up with nothing when everything is disposed of, more or less.
I guess the costs of shutting things down and paying off creditors and obligations will eat up most of the money raised in the liquidation of the firm.
That's what the article claimed, anyway.
--
QuickStrike
11-16-12, 22:11
Woody Harrelson's gonna be pissed! :D
That task is now our responsibility.
Maybe big bro will step in with taxpayer money.
Maybe big bro will step in with taxpayer money.
It think that was his point.
--
Straight Shooter
11-17-12, 06:45
Question-
Can these ****s...these union ****s who were on strike that started all this, can they draw unemployment? Are they eligible? Im talking specifically about the three plants who had pickett lines.
Thanks for your info.. it is my ferverent hope they cant draw a ****in thing, and lose everything theyve got, period.
Question-
Can these ****s...these union ****s who were on strike that started all this, can they draw unemployment? Are they eligible? Im talking specifically about the three plants who had pickett lines.
Thanks for your info.. it is my ferverent hope they cant draw a ****in thing, and lose everything theyve got, period.
the article said no :)
Question-
Can these ****s...these union ****s who were on strike that started all this, can they draw unemployment? Are they eligible? Im talking specifically about the three plants who had pickett lines.
Thanks for your info.. it is my ferverent hope they cant draw a ****in thing, and lose everything theyve got, period.
By the end, the article I read said up to 24 different plants had actions taking place at them. It started with the 3 plants, where they were all fired earlier in the week.
--
Meanwhile over on "think progress", its the evil rich's fault:
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/11/16/1203151/why-unions-dont-shoulder-the-blame-for-hostesss-downfall
Belmont31R
11-17-12, 22:06
Unions are one of the biggest reasons for manufacturing leaving the US...at least in liberal states.
Who wants to go start or run a business only to have your workforce get unionized by some scumbags, and then hold your business hostage while they demand extremely high (for the job) benefits and wages?
Unions had a place when we didn't have worker safety laws, child workers, and no minimum wage rules. Now they are detriment most of the time and keep shitty workers from being fired.
If they stuck to worker training programs or something like that they could be a valuable resource...but when they do nothing but bend companies over the barrel to demand even more...then they need to laid off like they were here.
As far as CEO pay RE that think progress crap....if you don't like it don't work there or get enough stock to where you can effect how much they are paid. Not every dude out there can run a company that does millions or billions in business every year. While some of them run a company into the ground, and walk off with millions that's the fault of whoever agreed to the contract in the first place, and isn't really all that common. Most CEO's are not getting paid 'near' that much to start with, anyways, and a lot of times they are paid with stocks so if the run the company into the ground they take their pay with it. So obviously there is great incentive for a CEO to not do that.
Anyone with a business or management degree know what a healthy payroll percentage would be?
For most companies, I bet payroll is the most expensive item on their books. I just can't fathom a guess at what it should amount to in terms of percentages.
Belmont31R
11-17-12, 22:47
Anyone with a business or management degree know what a healthy payroll percentage would be?
For most companies, I bet payroll is the most expensive item on their books. I just can't fathom a guess at what it should amount to in terms of percentages.
Prob depends on the place. My wife works with nurses and doctors...plus the management side like the directors, ect. Prob takes up a good percent of their income.
Plus...what the employee gets paid is only a fraction of the cost. There's the taxes they are paying (the other half the payroll cost for things like SS), benefits, training, workers comp, ect. My wife's job also pays her insurance in case a patient decides to sue.
That's highly dependent on the industry or the production process.
montanadave
11-17-12, 23:13
All of the union bashers oughta head down and take a job at ****in' WalMart.
Sure, unions have been guilty of some serious overeach and have killed more than one gold egg layin' goose. But in a tough economy with so many service industry, part-time, minimum wage jobs, working class folks are getting ****ed left and right by major retailers and manufacturers. Without some form of representation and collective bargaining muscle, they don't stand a chance.
You call it ****ed. I call it given an opportunity to earn some money.
Nobody is truly poor in America. Real poverty doesn't exist here. Even our "poor" have power and running water and plenty of food, and often times a cell phone and a TV.
http://youtu.be/o8vzdFo_cuI
Belmont31R
11-17-12, 23:51
All of the union bashers oughta head down and take a job at ****in' WalMart.
Sure, unions have been guilty of some serious overeach and have killed more than one gold egg layin' goose. But in a tough economy with so many service industry, part-time, minimum wage jobs, working class folks are getting ****ed left and right by major retailers and manufacturers. Without some form of representation and collective bargaining muscle, they don't stand a chance.
No...people don't have to take a job they don't think pays them enough. If they cannot find workers then they have to raise wages until they do.
Who makes minimum wage aside from HS kids? There's plenty of 'no experience needed' jobs thats pay over that.
GeorgiaBoy
11-18-12, 00:11
Nobody is truly poor in America. Real poverty doesn't exist here. Even our "poor" have power and running water and plenty of food, and often times a cell phone and a TV.
Wrong.
Sent from my iPhone 4S using Tapatalk
Wrong.
I see your point. Thank you for laying it out so clearly. :rolleyes:
All of the union bashers oughta head down and take a job at ****in' WalMart.
Sure, unions have been guilty of some serious overeach and have killed more than one gold egg layin' goose. But in a tough economy with so many service industry, part-time, minimum wage jobs, working class folks are getting ****ed left and right by major retailers and manufacturers. Without some form of representation and collective bargaining muscle, they don't stand a chance.
They don't stand a chance with their own stupid antics.
-
You call it ****ed. I call it given an opportunity to earn some money.
Nobody is truly poor in America. Real poverty doesn't exist here. Even our "poor" have power and running water and plenty of food, and often times a cell phone and a TV.
http://youtu.be/o8vzdFo_cuI
I see your point. Thank you for laying it out so clearly. :rolleyes:
Not to speak for GeorgiaBoy or anyone else, but I suspect he felt that you were using a rather large brush to paint the no-poor line. I'm assuming that you buy food in supermarkets your self and are familiar with the prices. You may also not be quite up to date with the cost of doctors and medication for the post 50 crowd. The last accounting I had of my mothers monthly medication bill indicated it was around $950. More than her SS, medicare and any savings that she had. In short, she was still in better shape than some.
While I agree that we don't live in third world poverty, it's not all roses for some people.. JMO.. Ron
GeorgiaBoy
11-18-12, 00:44
I see your point. Thank you for laying it out so clearly. :rolleyes:
It's fairly self explanatory.
Comparing Thailand and the US is apples and oranges. Comparing poverty there and poverty here and saying there is no such thing as a "poor" person in America is ignorant and horrible. The cost of living is higher here, and average income, wealth, and taxes are higher. Unlike in Thailand, living in poverty is not as common or prevalent so those that live in it are more apparent and are affected more by it.
Usually those that have never endured poverty are always the ones to feel the least sympathy.
Sent from my iPhone 4S using Tapatalk
I don't feel any sympathy, for the most part. The disabled are the only exception.
If one is an able bodied person with a desire to work hard, they can pull themselves out of "poverty". No excuses. No coddling. Make it happen. Everyone has a skill that someone else doesn't have. Use what you have and make a living. Take evening classes for super cheap at a local community college. Ace those classes. Get accepted into a better college. Make it happen.
I don't feel any sympathy, for the most part. The disabled are the only exception.
If one is an able bodied person with a desire to work hard, they can pull themselves out of "poverty". No excuses. No coddling. Make it happen. Everyone has a skill that someone else doesn't have. Use what you have and make a living. Take evening classes for super cheap at a local community college. Ace those classes. Get accepted into a better college. Make it happen.
And you did this yourself recently??
I'm not where I'd like to be salary-wise yet, but yes. I earned dual associates degrees, and I make quite a bit more now, than I did right out of HS when i worked for Circuit City. I've been considering going back for a bachelors, but need to weigh that decision carefully. TBD
There's always another stair to step upon.
Belmont31R
11-18-12, 01:42
With that said how does a union help? 16k people just got laid off because they would rather lose their jobs than keep making what they were a few months ago.
Now a lot of these people have to start off fresh somewhere else where they will probably get paid less with less benefits.
I'm not exactly anti-union. I think unions COULD have a beneficial roll in society. But unions like this who would rather lose their jobs than keep making what they were and see an iconic brand go under can go **** themselves (and they did).
Moose-Knuckle
11-18-12, 02:30
All of the union bashers oughta head down and take a job at ****in' WalMart.
Or Hostess . . . oh wait never mind. :sarcastic:
http://hostessbrands.com/Closed.aspx
Wal-Mart Workers' Black Friday Strike
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-11-16/wal-mart-workers-black-friday-strike
I thought the auctions on eBay for Hostess stuff especially Twinkies was a joke! I guess the joke was on me. I wish I had paid more attention as I could have been rich biatch!
Anyone with a business or management degree know what a healthy payroll percentage would be?
As others have said, it depends on the type of business.
At the risk of being nit picked, I'll generalize and say that some businesses are very capital intensive and have very heavy costs of plant and equipment and/or inventory such as manufacturing, in which case S&B (salary and benefits) costs might come in second.
On the other hand, a service business has less plant and equipment, if any, and little to no inventory, in which case S&B will undoubtedly be the highest expense category.
As an example, take the service business of commercial banking - depending on what they have to pay to get money (inventory), interest expense may be the highest or second highest expense as a percentage of total expenses. S&B expense will come in first or second, depending if rates paid are low or high.
I don't feel any sympathy, for the most part. The disabled are the only exception.
I would add the very young and the very old to your exception above. Poor sucks no matter who you are, even worse when you aren't in a position to do anything about it.
I would add the very young and the very old to your exception above. Poor sucks no matter who you are, even worse when you aren't in a position to do anything about it.
yeah kids for sure ! especially with parents that could do something about it but wont !
at least here people have opportunity and a chance if they want it !
countries like Honduras most never have any opportunity or chance of anything and cant imagine what that would be like
to me that is true poverty !
No...people don't have to take a job they don't think pays them enough. If they cannot find workers then they have to raise wages until they do.
Who makes minimum wage aside from HS kids? There's plenty of 'no experience needed' jobs thats pay over that.
I don't even think high school kids do. My daughter is in HS and makes $8.50 an hour.
I worked in a union shop at my last job and the one thing that members never seemed to understand was that the company and the executive will make their money. The point of any business is to make a profit and when that profit drops off then there is not much need for employees making a product that is not selling. I can’t tell you how many time someone at work would bicth about how much money the company is making or how much money the shareholders where making. Or my favorite “profits are only down a little”. They acted like the company owed them and it should just eat the loss in revenue.
What they never got through their heads was that their jobs were dependent on sales and profit. When sales dropped so did the need for workers. And all of their bicthing and finger pointing about how the company should take less did not make a difference. When profits drop, companies cut workers.
And now I read all of the stories about how the Hostess executives made this much or how their pay went up by this much. In the end the union was told take this or it’s over. They did not take it and now it’s over.
What they never got through their heads was that their jobs were dependent on sales and profit.
I have never worked in a union environment and have seen exactly the same thing from non-union workers.
militarymoron
11-18-12, 09:42
I have never worked in a union environment and have seen exactly the same thing from non-union workers.
while you may see the same attitude from non-union workers, it's not next-to-impossible to fire them for underperformance.
i'm a salaried person (scientist/engineer) who's worked in a union shop for the past 20 years; i spend about half my time on the manufacturing shop floor to direct technicians assigned to me. one of the issues i have with the union is that it's based more on seniority than performance. the new, young techs are usually the hardest working and most eager (although they learn to slow down soon) - the ones that have been there just want to make it to retirement. come layoff time, the ones with lowest seniority are the first to get laid off.
we've had quite a few really good guys quit and go to a different company with a non-union shop.
the loss in efficiency that i witness almost on a daily basis due to union rules and complacent workers who know that they're not graded on performance has formed my opinion over the years.
while you may see the same attitude from non-union workers, it's not next-to-impossible to fire them for underperformance.
Agreed. I'm just making the point that the referenced attitude is not exclusive to union workers.
Pay based on objective performance standards is the only way to go, IMO.
militarymoron
11-18-12, 10:24
Agreed. I'm just making the point that the referenced attitude is not exclusive to union workers.
Pay based on objective performance standards is the only way to go, IMO.
understood - i agree with you.
I think the best example is the car industry ?
companies like Toyota can build cars here and pay the workers less but they make more take home (seems to be true from reading other stories) and basically they make a good living and the companies are making a profit and no unions ?
lets see how are the American companies doing ? going under they make more take home less workers getting stoned drinking cant be fired crappy product coming out major issues etc.. all unions !
but those exclusive clubs for union top brass are nice to bad they wont allow workers ! boy union top folks make a TON of money for basically taking others wages
I'm ready for the Pinkerton Detective Agency to be reformed.
Crow Hunter
11-19-12, 09:21
The Twinkie, a Suicide
Unions kill an American classic, and 18,500 of their own jobs.
Perhaps it says something about America—though we're not sure what—that iconic junk foods like Twinkies, Devil Dogs, Ho Hos snack cakes and Wonder bread have endured since the 1930s despite changing consumer health and eating habits. It does say something about institutions that can't—or refuse to—adapt to new economic times that the company behind those products has chosen to go out of business overnight.
Hostess's owners have decided to liquidate rather than ride out a nationwide strike by one of the largest of its dozen unions, the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union. The Texas-based company owned by the private-equity shop Ripplewood Holdings and other hedge funds essentially gave up. On Friday it shut down its 33 bakeries and 565 distribution centers and prepared to fire nearly 18,500 employees en masse and auction off its brand and recipe portfolio.
Hostess posted sales of $2.5 billion in 2011 but lost $341 million and lacked the cash flow to hold out through the bakers union work stoppage that had only lost a few days of production so far. One reason is a labor-rule burden that by comparison makes Detroit look like Hong Kong.
The snack giant endured $52 million in workers' comp claims in 2011, according to its bankruptcy filing this January. Hostess's 372 collective-bargaining agreements required the company to maintain 80 different health and benefit plans, 40 pension plans and mandated a $31 million increase in wages and health care and other benefits for 2012.
Union work rules usually required cake and bread products to be delivered to a single retail location using two separate trucks. Drivers weren't allowed to load their own vehicles, and the workers who loaded bread weren't allowed to load cake. On most delivery routes, another "pull up" employee moved products from back rooms to shelves.
This year management negotiated concessions from some of the unions, including the Teamsters, but the bakers rejected a last and best offer in September. Then the courts gave Hostess unilateral authority to modify collective-bargaining contracts, prompting the strike. So now it will liquidate, instead of attempting to emerge from Chapter 11 intact.
The 18,500 layoffs are equal to about 11% of the net new jobs the entire U.S. economy created in October. The unions are blaming private equity, or Bain Capital, or capitalism, but the election is over. And so is Hostess.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324735104578123312646698662.html?KEYWORDS=the+twinkie
Article my wife sent me from the Wall Street journal.
The work "rules" that were quoted here are unbelievable. How could anyone think that such obtuse and inefficient work rules could keep a company afloat? The bloat is just mind-boggling.
80 separate health & benefit plans....
2 separate trucks....
40 pension plans....
I can't believe they stayed in business as long as they did.
I'll gladly celebrate this by eating the new Twinkies made in Alabama, Texas, South Carolina, and other union-free states. I'll even do it while driving in my Tacoma made in San Antonio, TX that never had a single UAW finger touch it.
I'll gladly celebrate this by eating the new Twinkies made in Alabama, Texas, South Carolina, and other union-free states.
You may get your chance, as I predicted earlier in this thread:
Twinkies Likely To Survive Sale Of Hostess
By TOM KRISHER 11/18/12 05:49 PM ET EST
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/18/twinkies-likely-to-survive-hostess-sale_n_2156415.html
Here is my wonderful union experience. Back 25yrs ago I was in the CWA. I had gotten into a nasty fight with my wife one night. Next day I was doodling on my desk about that fight and how I felt. The office busy body saw the doodle before I threw it away. She told our supervisor that I had written some threatening remarks. He told her I just had a bad night, don't worry about it. Not good enough, she went to the union steward (who told people he was a warlock and burned upside down pentagrams in his equipment) and complained. Union gets 3rd line supervision and security involved. Security shows up and we have a meeting. He asks me if I have guns in my locker or car, what do I read, did I write the doodle. I answer truthfully down the line. He sees no problem. Company give me a memo just in case. Everyone is afraid of the busy body now, they could be next. So the union that I paid $500 to a year goes after me and tries get me in trouble. I would rather cut my scrotum off than join a union. I still have that job, but I'm not in the union. There were other situations with the union, like where is all the strike fund money etc. I still have to pay the dues ( over $650 a year now) but every May, I write a letter to the CWA in DC and request a refund for non collective bargaining monies (about $200).
The_War_Wagon
11-19-12, 12:07
Hostess was MOOchelle's Osama Bin Laden. :rolleyes:
Crow Hunter
11-19-12, 13:01
Here is my wonderful union experience. Back 25yrs ago I was in the CWA.
I grew up in a Communications Workers of America houshold. My Dad, Mother and Brother have all been members at one time or another. Mother was a Union Steward.
My brother is currently a member of 2 railroad unions.
I have a bunch of CWA coats and coveralls in my closet.
I still don't like unions. :D
montanadave
11-19-12, 14:24
Getting back to the Twinkies, the cat that runs the private equity company which bought out Pabst Blue Ribbon says he's interested in picking up the Twinkies brand.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-16/pabst-owner-metropoulos-is-considering-bid-for-hostess-brands.html
I always liked Beer Nuts or Pork Rinds with beer, but what the hell.
Moose-Knuckle
11-21-12, 02:19
Last minute court ordered mitigation failed, done and done, another victory for unions.
Failed talks with union spells end to Twinkie-maker Hostess
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/21/us-hostess-mediation-idUSBRE8AK00P20121121
CarlosDJackal
11-21-12, 21:40
Last minute court ordered mitigation failed, done and done, another victory for unions...
I wonder if any of those more than 18,000 union workers who are losing their jobs feel the same way?
I wonder if any of those more than 18,000 union workers who are losing their jobs feel the same way?
Highly unlikely, but they chose to strike. They chose the path they walked, so they need to face the music they wrote.
Maybe a small batch of out of work union people will signal to the rest of the unions that smaller businesses can and will call their bluffs.
I always thought it ironic that a bunch of blue collar guys in need of jobs like pissing off the people holding the job cards. People like the Walton's are set for the most part. They could shut down operations and sell all assets and live for generations without having to lift a finger. Makes a lot of sense to keep pissing in their corn flakes doesn't it.
http://www.allpar.com/news/index.php/2012/12/chrysler-response-to-reinstatement-of-terminated-workers
Union bullshit. You guys won't believe this
Not surprised. No one wants to be the bad guy.
Littlelebowski
12-11-12, 06:20
Christ, I watched that video. They had the workers dead to rights.
**** unions.
**** the Union and **** the idiot arbitrator. This kind of assenine behavior is nothing new. I'll tell you a little story of union bliss. Company X employee shows up to work every day in the AM. Does the daily briefing and takes a company car to do his work. Instead of doing the work he goes and plays basketball most if the day. Comes up with BS excuses for why his daily tasks are lacking to say the least. Eventually company finds out what's going on. They tail this idiot and verify he is really playing hoops instead of working. Union lackey gets fired. Union files grievance. After a couple of months an arbitrator rules that the firing was unjust cause they didn't tell him he needed to stop and get to work. Union lackey rehired with back pay. It's that a dream.
Union management doesn't give a rats ass about anything other than the # of members paying dues. They don't care about the quality of work, efficiency of the work. Not a damned thing. IMO they'd back a dues paying member even if he shot up the place so long as he didn't hurt dues paying members. The more people paying dues the more money in the coffers and that is then bottom line. The only reason they pretend to give a crap about employer abuses is cause its a tool to recruit members.
In late 70's I worked as a level II in ndt. I was working on a pipeline project in Ohio. The labor bus was piloted by a teamster. His job was to drive the bus from the yard to the job site in the morning and back at the end of the day. That was it, sleep and read all day. After lunch he would go through the laborer's lunches looking for 2nds. There was one union laborer that would jump off the bus in the morning and head to the woods. End of day, he'd scurry back out to the bus and head back to the yard. Did that all summer on that project.
Fox News contributor punched in face at pro-union protests in Michigan
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/12/11/fox-news-contributor-punched-in-face-at-pro-union-protests-in-michigan/
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