Hostess Shrugged

[smithra89]

at least all of the workers will receive their 99+ weeks of unemployment, food stamps, obamacare, etc.... of course they will keep their cell phones and t.v.

[xRUSTYx]

Smithra... Obama pays for their cell phones as well


Sent at lightning speed from my unholstered iPhone5

[smithra89]

[quote name='xRUSTYx' timestamp='1353137678' post='847072']
Smithra... Obama pays for their cell phones as well


Sent at lightning speed from my unholstered iPhone5
[/quote]

thanks for reminding me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tpAOwJvTOio

[LI0NSFAN]

[quote name='OhShoot' timestamp='1353108744' post='846879']
Are you confused with Edy's Ice Cream? (owned by Nestle/Dreyer).

What is Eddy's? (owned by Hostess).

- OS
[/quote] They reported that Edys icecream plants were affected. I thought they were part of Nestle as well but that is what Fox was reporting. Eddy's was a heavy finger spelling error on my part.

[Will Carry]

I figured someone would use this as an opportunity to blast the unions. In this case the unions did not cause this. Merrita management failed miserably. They did not reinvest in new equipment and new technology that could have saved the company. They lacked the marketing savvy to sell their product. They used their profits to fatten their wallets and they were trying to save money by robbing the hourly workers of their hard earned wages and their pensions (future).
It's so easy to blame the unions. This time that just isn't so. In a free market society, companies who fail to innovate and market their product are going to fail.
Unions or not. China doesn't have unions they have what's called Slave Labor. They have employees jumping off the roofs to get away from the hell they live in. I'm am a firm believer in a free market economy and collective bargaining.

Like Ronald Regan said "Where free unions and collective bargaining are forbidden, freedom is lost."

I have been a blue collar worker since 1977. I have never been in a union because I have worked in the south. To keep the unions out of the south we were given wages and benefits commensurate with the union workers. For that I am greatful.

[laktrash]

one more
RIP


[img]http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/s480x480/485070_469975903054457_1916345391_n.jpg[/img]

[Hershmeister]

[quote name='Will Carry' timestamp='1353158368' post='847118']I figured someone would use this as an opportunity to blast the unions. In this case the unions did not cause this. Merrita management failed miserably. They did not reinvest in new equipment and new technology that could have saved the company. They lacked the marketing savvy to sell their product. They used their profits to fatten their wallets and they were trying to save money by robbing the hourly workers of their hard earned wages and their pensions (future).
It's so easy to blame the unions. This time that just isn't so. In a free market society, companies who fail to innovate and market their product are going to fail.
Unions or not. China doesn't have unions they have what's called Slave Labor. They have employees jumping off the roofs to get away from the hell they live in. I'm am a firm believer in a free market economy and collective bargaining.

Like Ronald Regan said "Where free unions and collective bargaining are forbidden, freedom is lost."

I have been a blue collar worker since 1977. I have never been in a union because I have worked in the south. To keep the unions out of the south we were given wages and benefits commensurate with the union workers. For that I am greatful.[/quote]



Will - all of what you say may be true, and profits are the owners to do
With what they will - reinvest or blow on beer and cigarettes. What is not up for debate is that it is up to the owners to decide how to run their company and what wages they can afford to pay.

No one likes seeing their wages or benefits declining, but its a reality that is affecting everyone in this country. And
Just because folks are in a union doesn't make them immune from this reality.

Hostess choice of closing up shop and selling its assets demonstrates that the business is still valuable - just not under the labor cost structure they have today.

Remember - it's not YOUR job - its the Company's job that they've hired you to perform.

[Oh Shoot]

[quote name='Lions Fan' timestamp='1353155032' post='847102']
They reported that Edys icecream plants were affected. I thought they were part of Nestle as well but that is what Fox was reporting. Eddy's was a heavy finger spelling error on my part.
[/quote]

[u]Eddy's[/u] is actually a real brand owned by Hostess. Seems to be a western regional brand of bread and cakes and stuff.

[img]http://routedriver.home.comcast.net/pub/temp/eddys.jpg[/img]

Goes back a long way before Hostess, lots of antique signs and stuff found for it.

Don't know who the "they" is that reported it but perhaps they were idiots who didn't know the difference between [u]Edy's[/u] and [u]Eddy's[/u].

- OS Edited November 17, 2012 by OhShoot

[laktrash]

Wonder how many "private labels" they made for grocery stores that we don't know about

[LI0NSFAN]

[quote name='OhShoot' timestamp='1353187073' post='847302']
[u]Eddy's[/u] is actually a real brand owned by Hostess. Seems to be a western regional brand of bread and cakes and stuff.

[img]http://routedriver.home.comcast.net/pub/temp/eddys.jpg[/img]

Goes back a long way before Hostess, lots of antique signs and stuff found for it.

Don't know who the "they" is that reported it but perhaps they were idiots who didn't know the difference between [u]Edy's[/u] and [u]Eddy's[/u].

- OS
[/quote]IT was the local ABC news that announced the Edy's ice cream was affected. After finding out the ice cream was safe my wife relaxed and had me only pick up 4 things of double chocolate.



I was at the Local food city and the bread isle was very low on stock. Plenty of Kerns but that was about it. I think bread will be harder to come by until the other makers beef up production. Edited November 17, 2012 by Lions Fan

[Oh Shoot]

[quote name='Lions Fan' timestamp='1353191886' post='847324']
IT was the local ABC news that announced the Edy's ice cream was affected. ...[/quote]

The WATE gnus team at Greystone has traditionally been a prime example of the Peter Principle.

- OS Edited November 17, 2012 by OhShoot

[Guest 6.8 AR]

[quote name='Will Carry' timestamp='1353158368' post='847118']
I figured someone would use this as an opportunity to blast the unions. In this case the unions did not cause this. Merrita management failed miserably. They did not reinvest in new equipment and new technology that could have saved the company. They lacked the marketing savvy to sell their product. They used their profits to fatten their wallets and they were trying to save money by robbing the hourly workers of their hard earned wages and their pensions (future).
It's so easy to blame the unions. This time that just isn't so. In a free market society, companies who fail to innovate and market their product are going to fail.
Unions or not. China doesn't have unions they have what's called Slave Labor. They have employees jumping off the roofs to get away from the hell they live in. I'm am a firm believer in a free market economy and collective bargaining.

Like Ronald Regan said "Where free unions and collective bargaining are forbidden, freedom is lost."

I have been a blue collar worker since 1977. I have never been in a union because I have worked in the south. To keep the unions out of the south we were given wages and benefits commensurate with the union workers. For that I am greatful.
[/quote]
Will, how do you know any of this? Were you one of those laid off?

I don't have anything with collective bargaining but it isn't the workers who came up with the product, and it's certainly not up
to them as to how it's marketed. From the stories I read, most of the employees voted to take a pay cut and whatever else to
keep the business rolling, but one union voted to not accept the terms offered by the company. I also doubt the executives
will make a dime going through bankruptcy. A bargaining in good faith is just that. How can a company invest in new technology
if it can't pay its existing bills? They can't just keep on borrowing to make a payroll. That's too much like the federal government.

What does China or Ronald Reagan have to do with this? Companies are failing or reducing workforce all over this country right
now, and Hostess' problems have been known for a while. They have been keeping the doors open for possibly too long, already.

I guess I'm what you call a blue collar worker, also, and I have to go through contract negotiations, just like they did. If it meant to
keep the doors open or close, I would have most likely gone along, just to have a job.

It's the company's responsibility to turn a profit. It's the employees' job to do their job at a reasonable wage. No one said they had
any other right, other than what they negotiated, and, if the company had negotiated in good faith and the union rejected it, all
bets are off. They(unions) were bluffing in their negotiations because they didn't really think the company would close it's doors.
Their bluff was called. No one is trashing unions, well give me a moment and I might, but the tail only wags the dog in Hollywood.

[Chucktshoes]

Well said, 6.8.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Thank you, Chuck!

[DaveTN]

I’m not for or against unions; I’m just pretty sure if they were gone today we would need them back tomorrow.

I haven’t done a lot of research on this but it appears everyone stood their ground and now they have to live with the results. The Company closed instead of paying and the employees chose that over going back to work.

I just wonder if the people that made the decision to close the company are out of a job?

[Guest Lester Weevils]

I've belonged to some unions and have not been impressed, but also agree that "fear of unions" causes some companies to treat wage slaves better than they otherwise would be inclined to do. The union is the "boogie man" which enforces more humane treatment in non-union shops.

I think the falling-apart of usa industry has a great deal to do with incompetents at the top. So when they bail, perhaps we could call it "the three stooges shrugged". Floating to the ground on golden parachutes.

Idiot union thugs negotiating against morons in management.

Though apparently Hostess' demise is not directly related to foreign competition from twinkie clones, it just seems to have something to do with the giant sucking sound. Surely the factories would be profitable enough to compensate for woeful management if operated in Mexico or China, or at least if the factories in the USA could operate with illegal immigrant labor.

Once you go for the free trade, it is thermodynamics, boyles law. If one pressure tank contains a billion chinese willing to work for $1 per day, and another pressure tank contains 300 million usa citizens willing to work for $200 per day-- Open the valve and after the pressure equalizes you eventually get 1.3 billion people willing to work for $46.92 per day.

OTOH if you protect incompetent usa management, it just slacks more and gets more incompetent, so keeping the valve closed ain't so great either.

Edited November 18, 2012 by Lester Weevils

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Lester, no one is protecting incompetent USA management. They tend to go down the drain just as fast, or faster.

You can't really get good bread from China, maybe Twinkies, but not bread.

I don't have a real problem with groups like unions bargaining for reasonable wages, but unions taking money from rank and file employees and not doing their job with that money is a real problem for me. Have you ever heard of job insurance? It's the rage in the railroad industry unions. It keeps the union from having to do it's job when an employee gets in trouble. I have never bought into it and never will. The union is usually the one selling it and makes a killing on it, on top of the union dues. There is something I do have a problem with someone taking my money in the guise of representing me. That's called a fiduciary agreement, which the unions don't care to honor. They would rather sell you job insurance. Unions also contribute heavily to the Democrat Party. I have a serious problem with that. I didn't join for my political voice, just because of the job, which I understand was made available by my employer.

Unions want you to think they are in control of something when they aren't. They are just the tail trying to wag the dog.

Dave, the Hostess Company is a privately held concern from what I read. Edited November 18, 2012 by 6.8 AR

[Oh Shoot]

[quote name='6.8 AR' timestamp='1353209191' post='847424']
....You can't really get good bread from China, maybe Twinkies, but not bread.
[/quote]

You're suggesting Wonder Bread is good? I assure you it would be just the same if made in China and shipped here. Hell, some plastic decomposes quicker than most "white bread" in the supermarket.

And Twinkies don't have a shelf life -- they have a half life rating.

- OS

Edited November 18, 2012 by OhShoot

[Guest HvyMtl]

Hmm, I have heard the union had given concessions already, during the last bankruptcy. This is the second bankruptcy. You have $2.5 BILLION DOLLARS IN ANNUAL SALES, and [i]still [/i]cannot turn a company around? That smacks of a BIG FAIL in leadership.

Wish I could find the report I had read, where the ONE union (Teamsters, yeah, extremely bad reputation) had struck due to the poor management team, and in [i]hopes[/i] someone else would buy the company.

[b]When your employees would rather strike, knowing FULL WELL the strike WILL KILL the company, than work with you? Yeah, you suck at management. [/b]

One link, not the one I was looking for, but yeah.
[url="http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/16/news/companies/hostess-closing/index.html"]http://money.cnn.com...sing/index.html[/url]

And here is a link with recipes to make similar stuff at home.
http://www.mnn.com/food/recipes/blogs/make-your-own-hostess-treats Edited November 18, 2012 by HvyMtl

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Someone else will buy the parts of the company they want, and their won't be a union. Spin it anyway you want,
HvyMtl. Those guys who struck still have no job. The Teamsters weren't the only union involved in this, either.
The other guys wanted to keep their jobs.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

[quote name='OhShoot' timestamp='1353211297' post='847440']
You're suggesting Wonder Bread is good? I assure you it would be just the same if made in China and shipped here. Hell, some plastic decomposes quicker than most "white bread" in the supermarket.

And Twinkies don't have a shelf life -- they have a half life rating.

- OS
[/quote]I've heard that. and Twinkies were good. Aw, now that Mary Jane and friends bread at Kroger is good stuff, Mac.

What ever happened to Sunbeam and Colonial Bread? Those were the good old days.

[Chucktshoes]

The Teamsters agreed to concessions, it was the bakers union that sank them. In fact the Teamsters released a statement that was pretty critical of the bakers union's actions in this whole debacle. At the end, the Teamsters weren't even officially honoring the bakers union picket lines even though some individual drivers wouldn't cross.

[Chucktshoes]

[quote name='6.8 AR' timestamp='1353212307' post='847448']I've heard that. and Twinkies were good. Aw, now that Mary Jane and friends bread at Kroger is good stuff, Mac.

What ever happened to Sunbeam and Colonial Bread? Those were the good old days.[/quote]

Don't know about Sunbeam, but Colonial is a Sara Lee product.

[Oh Shoot]

[quote name='6.8 AR' timestamp='1353212307' post='847448']
...What ever happened to Sunbeam ...[/quote]

See logo above, Sunbeam was still being distributed in some markets.

All the white breads are much like the former Heileman Brewing Company that bought up dozens of regional breweries through the years, kept the labels, but put the same beer in them all.

- OS

[vontar]

I still find it hard to believe you can go bankrupt selling food in America.