RELAX about the Twinkies. Heres why:

[Critical Recovery]

RELAX about the Twinkies. Here's why:

Hostess may be "bankrupt", but the brand and name can be made profitable.

Somebody will buy it and not have to be bullied by employees who thought they were entitled to a guaranteed pension, full paid benefits and exorbitant pay rates.
There are workers that will TAKE 12.00 an hour for a 12.00 job as opposed to pout and demand 29.00 an hour for a 12.00 an hour job.
They were offered the choice: Take an 8% pay cut and keep your jobs, and the company will survive, or refuse and we will have to close.
They made their choice.
This is what we have become.

The brand will reappear. It is profitable enough and the brand is recognizable.
Greed and the entitlement society put it out of business.

Twinkies will survive.

But we will see more of this as times get harder.

 

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[jeff of pa]

actually look at the polls.
at least the last one I saw most people didn't care about Twinkies .
the local news channel had as hard a Time as Woody Harrelson had in Zombieland.
they finally found them at walmart.

perhaps some did buy wonder bread. I never spent that kind of money on bread
or even priced it, if it was here, but I imagine you paid for the name if you did.
and it probably wasn't under a dollar a Loaf

Of course it was the union who caused this, & I applaud Hostess for sticking to their guns,
by giving them a deadline & sticking to it.

Yes it effects the workers & the Union employees will still be wealthy, but maybe some former workers
will realize this next time they apply for a job at a place with a union

 

[bigscoop]

I think the whole Twinkie/Hostess/Union thing presents some very interesting circumstances and concerns that are going to have to be dealt with, if not regulated somehow, on down the road. I think it is an interesting case study that's going to be played out again and again.

 

[davest]

I agree but I think 12.00 an hour is too high a wage. I know if I ever come out of retirement, I'm gonna offer my services for $6.00/hr with no benefits. After all, who needs to be paid for holidays or overtime? Why should anyone think they should take a vacation on the bosses dime.

Be happy someone will hire you, that's the ticket.

 

[piegrande]

Bimbo, the Mexican bread company, is on a short list of possible buyers. Sugar is cheaper in Mexico, and I assure you the workers will not get $12/hr, but they will be happy with it. Such is competition in the world.

 

[Critical Recovery]

I AM curious as to when the employee started dictating to the employER how much he was going to be paid and how hard he would work.
That's just not reality anymore scooter.

If I have a company, my job is to make money, NOT to be a benefactor to people. May sound harsh, but a choice between somebody who is going to be a lazy whiner and start dictating to ME what he is and isn't going to do and "demand" 30.00 an hour or he is going to hold my production hostage, opposed to someone who is going to work twice as hard, be twice as effecient and be appreciative of HALF that.....is no choice at all.

If people don't like that, they can start their own company.
The original spirit of unions was stolen and perverted by glorified extortionists and turned into a bloated, corrupt, childlike entity that is self serving.


THAT is why our production went to Mexico, SE Asia and China.

 

[bigscoop]

I think this situation and the circumstances involved are clearly presenting a very troubling economic concern for this country. You can't keep losing your middle class at the rate we are continuing to lose ours. Obviously, investors/owners have the right make as much money as they can, but when these eventual payoff concerns continue to sacrifice the rapidly dwindling middle class it presents an extremely troubling economic situation for this country. This country can't survive without a strong middle class.

 

[Critical Recovery]

So work harder.
That's what we USED to do.
That's what they do in Mexico.
Or China.
That's why they are killing in in production.

Now we have a middle class that thinks they are entitled to a pickup and a boat and an executive class that thinks they are entitled to a BMW and a vacation home.
Why? "I didn't get one last year. Now it's THIS YEAR"
Did you work harder for it?
"No, it's OWED TO ME"
And it is biting us in the ass.


The sooner we face it, the better off we will be.

 

[bigscoop]

I think this situation and the circumstances involved are clearly presenting a very troubling economic concern for this country. You can't keep losing your middle class at the rate we are continuing to lose ours. Obviously, investors/owners have the right make as much money as they can, but when these eventual payoff concerns continue to sacrifice the rapidly dwindling middle class it presents an extremely troubling economic situation for this country. This country can't survive without a strong middle class.

Thousands of people are expected to start their own business in an erea where small business can't compete and they are continuing to close at a record clip? Not a very likely or promising proposal to the very small percentage who might even be able to gather enough funds to try.

 

[bigscoop]

The real issues/concerns are much larger then that. I've always maintained that true small business is critical to stabilizing this country's rapid economic decline. The problem is that corporate America has lobbied extremely hard to neutralize the obvious threats from this type of competition. They don't call them monopolies but that's exactly what they've created for themselves in regards to the threat of potential competing small business.

 

[Critical Recovery]

The real issues/concerns are much larger then that. I've always maintained that true small business is critical to stabilizing this country's rapid economic decline. The problem is that corporate America has lobbied extremely hard to neutralize the obvious threats from this type of competition. They don't call them monopolies but that's exactly what they've created for themselves in regards to the threat of potential competing small business.

You can project theory and speculation all day long.

I have faced the reality.
We had five suppliers for various components.

Two of them moved to Mexico and one to Thailand.
What happened? They provided us with more product in a shorter time, more precision and less defects.
The employees there made the equivalent of 5.00 an hour, and their quality of life went though the ROOF, in better, safer work conditions than they had ever experienced.
There were 1,000 employees for every job offered.

That's reality.
Brought to you by the lazy, demanding American union employee.
And we have nobody to blame but ourselves.

Maybe I should have accepted a more expensive, defect laden product that with an unreliable delivery schedule to accommodate two month vacation schedules and 90.00 an hour overtime just because it was made here.


Hostess bakers employee union members had a choice: Take an 8% pay cut so the company could survive, or be children and the company would fold.

 

[Dave44]

The real issues/concerns are much larger then that. I've always maintained that true small business is critical to stabilizing this country's rapid economic decline. The problem is that corporate America has lobbied extremely hard to neutralize the obvious threats from this type of competition. They don't call them monopolies but that's exactly what they've created for themselves in regards to the threat of potential competing small business.

The Real problem is that big companies lobby to get bailed out,( GM, Dodge, Myriad of banks and solar energy corps). That way they never have to face the cruel world of math. If they are mismanaged or if they have a losing business model bloated with labor and lavish retirement packages or even bloated packages for the management they may have to reorganize to stay solvent. This is a good thing.

FYI. When a large company goes out of business, a bunch of smaller companies rise to take it's place! And then it is their turn to shine. Small business and the middle class have been getting the shaft because of the bailouts! These companies should go bankrupt!

 

[bigscoop]

The Real problem is that big companies lobby to get bailed out,( GM, Dodge, Myriad of banks and solar energy corps). That way they never have to face the cruel world of math. If they are mismanaged or if they have a losing business model bloated with labor and lavish retirement packages or even bloated packages for the management they may have to reorganize to stay solvent. This is a good thing.

FYI. When a large company goes out of business, a bunch of smaller companies rise to take it's place! And then it is their turn to shine. Small business and the middle class have been getting the shaft because of the bailouts! These companies should go bankrupt!

I'm not disagreeing with you guys. But you hit the nail on the head, which is exactly part of my explanation. The problem at hand is greatly magnified now because of all the lobbying, bailouts, etc. In my lifetime i have been both union and non union and I have lived the realities of both, I have also been a business owner and lived that reality as well. My post are not to argue, or to speculate, but rather they are simply pointing out a growing area of economic crisis for this country. There is no way to maintain even a stumbling economy without a middle class, and when one tosses in this country's debt and the rate at which we are losing our middle class it is extremely troubling and alarming. What I have said is that the Hostess issue presents a very interesting case study, because it does. I have also said that it will most likely happen again and again if something isn't done to stall what is likely to become a growing trend.

 

[Dave44]

Yes Mr Scoop, you are exactly right, and we are losing more middle class faster and faster, and all the new regulations are making it harder and harder to get it back. Looks a bit like the start of the 1930s. All we need is another blast of global dust bowl warming, or cooling, or whatever the malady that will be a catalyst.

Hopefully the shovel ready jobs will keep the trains moving so we can hop a boxcar!

 

[Chadeaux]

The original spirit of unions was stolen and perverted by glorified extortionists and turned into a bloated, corrupt, childlike entity that is self serving.

I think you need to change "childlike" to "mobster" as it is more accurate. They're generally better at extortion, but then everyone eventually has a bad day.

 

[Frankn]

Looks like Wallmart may be next! A reporter interviewed a union rep at the strike in Landover , MD. My impression of the union rep. BIMBO! Frank

 

[lost]

Instead of today's Union Name. How about we substitute the word "Terrorist?"

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Some have forgotten if it were not for "unions" we would still be working 60+ hours a week for 40 hours pay, unsafe working conditions, no vacation, no holidays, no sick time, no insurance, and very low pay....... Just like everything else, there is good and bad, but the good has far outweighed the bad over the years.......

 

[bigscoop]

Some have forgotten if it were not for "unions" we would still be working 60+ hours a week for 40 hours pay, unsafe working conditions, no vacation, no holidays, no sick time, no insurance, and very low pay....... Just like everything else, there is good and bad, but the good has far outweighed the bad over the years.......

True. But for many the same is true with drugs, food processing, you name it, they only seek out the bad in everything. Truth is, Americans are living longer and healthier then ever before. Plages have been nuetralized, etc., etc., etc.

 

[Beans]

Twinkies are a want not a need. People have to remember that if you work for a company then makes wants, they have a better chance of getting laid off then those who work for a company that produces Needs. $29 an hour to work where everything is done by machine and yet they were still not happy. Can't have your twinkie and eat it to.