hostess is closing due to strikes ?

[Danimal]

There are some interesting points here. First off I wonder where the salary numbers given above come from, because they have no legal obligation to disclose compensation for executives. So where did those numbers come from? Second, they had a work force of 32,000 people in 2004 when the originally applied for bankruptcy and they have been steadily closing factories and cutting jobs for the better part of a decade. Could this possibly coincide with the health craze and demonetization of unhealthy food? If you have a company that is cranking out money making a profit, why would you dismantle it? The answer is that you wouldn't. It was going under for some time now and there was nothing that anyone could do about it. They have been privately bought out by other corporations twice since the company filed for chapter 11 the first time and hundreds of millions have been sunk into making it work.

Some of you are saying that it is corporate greed that is sinking it. Funny, it is a publicly traded corporation that has to abide by all the same corporate finance rules that have been put in place since Enron. They cant dismantle it for profit, only to recoup their losses that the companies that bought the debt incurred when the company failed.

Some of you are saying that it was the unions. Unions had a place in our society, and if they are set up right can ensure a major corporation that is doing well is not abusing its workers. That still stands. But what happens when you have a company that is failing? What can a union boss do when the people that you are seeking to protect are producing a product that fewer and fewer people are buying? Nothing, and in fact fighting for wages to stay high will only speed up the inevitable. It is not that the unions killed the company, they just made it happen now instead of three months from now.

If you want to blame anyone blame Michelle Obama and all her health food crap that she has been doing. Blame BO for sinking our country to the point where people dont have money to waste on Twinkies. The company was failing, no one buys Twinkies when they are broke. No one goes out of their way to but them because lets face it, if you are a health conscious person, you know that there is nothing good about them.

[JM Ver. 2.0]

There are some interesting points here. First off I wonder where the salary numbers given above come from, because they have no legal obligation to disclose compensation for executives. So where did those numbers come from? Second, they had a work force of 32,000 people in 2004 when the originally applied for bankruptcy and they have been steadily closing factories and cutting jobs for the better part of a decade. Could this possibly coincide with the health craze and demonetization of unhealthy food? If you have a company that is cranking out money making a profit, why would you dismantle it? The answer is that you wouldn't. It was going under for some time now and there was nothing that anyone could do about it. They have been privately bought out by other corporations twice since the company filed for chapter 11 the first time and hundreds of millions have been sunk into making it work.

Some of you are saying that it is corporate greed that is sinking it. Funny, it is a publicly traded corporation that has to abide by all the same corporate finance rules that have been put in place since Enron. They cant dismantle it for profit, only to recoup their losses that the companies that bought the debt incurred when the company failed.

Some of you are saying that it was the unions. Unions had a place in our society, and if they are set up right can ensure a major corporation that is doing well is not abusing its workers. That still stands. But what happens when you have a company that is failing? What can a union boss do when the people that you are seeking to protect are producing a product that fewer and fewer people are buying? Nothing, and in fact fighting for wages to stay high will only speed up the inevitable. It is not that the unions killed the company, they just made it happen now instead of three months from now.

If you want to blame anyone blame Michelle Obama and all her health food crap that she has been doing. Blame BO for sinking our country to the point where people dont have money to waste on Twinkies. The company was failing, no one buys Twinkies when they are broke. No one goes out of their way to but them because lets face it, if you are a health conscious person, you know that there is nothing good about them.

Don't you ever talk about Twinkies like that again! Twinkies are amazing!

[TEAMRICO]

Gee, where are these highly skilled TWINKIE BAKERS going to go after all the college and special training they have dedicated their lives to?
I'm sure all of them were American born full blooded American Citizens too........

Unions.....nuff said.

Ooh yeah.....hail Dear Leader....

[jerrymrc]

Gee, where are these highly skilled TWINKIE BAKERS going to go after all the college and special training they have dedicated their lives to?
I'm sure all of them were American born full blooded American Citizens too........

Unions.....nuff said.

Ooh yeah.....hail Dear Leader....

I saw some video on the striking workers and a few things came to mind. The first was they really loved there Twinkies..... And the second, well I plead the 5th.

[Irving]

Hey, what's $2,900,000 divided by 18,000 employees?

People make fun of Bimbo, but they are the largest bakery in the world. They own Wonder Bread, Sara Lee, Entenmann's, Mrs. Baird's, Orowheat, Stroehmann's, Thomas', and Tia Rosa; to name a few.

American's can't take it seriously because of the way it is spelled, but since it is a Spanish word, it is actually pronounced, Beem-bo.

[Mazin]

My Uncle just retired from there a year ago after 42 years of service. It's been a long time coming.

[DD977GM2]

Do you understand the reason unions formed in the first place? Those reasons are outdated as much as using an Apple II for modern computer work.

You can't complain about the unions, then claim you believe in free enterprise and capitalism in the same breath.

People should be free to form unions if they choose to do so, and companies should be free to choose to hire union or non-union workers if they choose to do so.

When the two sides disagree, the workers can choose not to work and/or the company can choose to shut down.

Nothing wrong with either option IMO, it's how a truly free market is supposed to work.

--gos

[Irving]

Did people really clear out all the Hostess products today?

I guess if people will wait in lines two blocks long for Krispy Kreme donuts, why wouldn't they also clean out stores of Hostess products?

[gos]

Do you understand the reason unions formed in the first place? Those reasons are outdated as much as using an Apple II for modern computer work.

Really? You're saying that corporations don't take advantage of their workforce anymore? There are still plenty of reasons for groups of workers to negotiate as a group to gain some leverage versus their employer.

[ChunkyMonkey]

You only need a group bargaining if you are lazy and otherwise not needed. Many of us who work our butt off and raise in rank by achievements and merit hate to be lumped into a group and live by low bar/standard.