The twinkie thread

[green-lantern]

I think we need a thread for this. It appears to be the perfect example of corporate and union BS. What is wrong with American business? Yeah look here to find that question out.

I didn’t put this in the political area because I don’t want to look at it in that way. If it needs to be moved then mods please do so.

Discuss

[j2k4]

I have eaten a few Twinkies that I enjoyed.

They are not healthful, though.

Neither of these things have the least to do with the issue, however.

I think the relevancies go no further than that the Twinkie is/was an iconic American product, the manufacture of which will no longer take place in the US owing to the dissolution of the parent company, Hostess, due to over-reaching demands of the Baker's union.

Blame has been laid and denied, but the Twinkie will go on, likely manufactured by Bimbo, a Mexican company.

The interest the whole issue generates will only last while the possibility of a shortage of product looms, because no one cares about unions or management once the issues have been decided.

[bluefox1081]

I'm so shocked to see the as expected people placing all the blame on the low-wage workers that do the actual work manufacturing the product, and none of the blame on the wealthy executives that fleeced the company for all its available cash 5 months prior to filing for chapter 11. They totally deserve those bonuses they're asking the court's permission to pay out.

[j2k4]

I'm so shocked to see the as expected people placing all the blame on the low-wage workers that do the actual work manufacturing the product, and none of the blame on the wealthy executives that fleeced the company for all its available cash 5 months prior to filing for chapter 11. They totally deserve those bonuses they're asking the court's permission to pay out.

Absolutely agreed as to any fleecing that took place - the perpetrators should be shot and kicked for dying.

That money should have gone to the stockholders.

Hey, I heard too about the union stipulations that bread and Twinkies couldn't share space on the same truck, so there was a lot of redundancy in delivery routes.

Sound dumb to you, too?

[NickS VR4]

Absolutely agreed as to any fleecing that took place - the perpetrators should be shot and kicked for dying.

That money should have gone to the stockholders.

Hey, I heard too about the union stipulations that bread and Twinkies couldn't share space on the same truck, so there was a lot of redundancy in delivery routes.

Sound dumb to you, too?

Maybe unions wanted to have their cake and eat it too. Keep work force, but invest in efficiency. If more efficient, and output has same requirement, than a smaller work force is called for. Instead of laying off, looks like they tried to lower salaries. Stuff like not mixing products on trucks just goes to show they had too many workers and weren't being efficient.

[j2k4]

Stuff like not mixing products on trucks just goes to show they had too many workers and weren't being efficient.

Uh, yeah.

[NickS VR4]

Hostess has been a sinking ship for a while. Both sides to blame. Years ago we had a Hostess store nearby and I used to see them all the time in places like Wawa. Last decade they have been fading away and I see less and less, specifically the pies. It's a shame, they have great brand recognition, seems like they could keep it going if effort was made.

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[sethduncan]

I'm more sad about losing Zinger's.

[UTRacerX9]

There's been a lot on the local news about it since they are headquartered here. Everyone is quick to blame the unions, but Hostess already forced them to renegotiate their contracts in Jan. According to one guy, he was getting paid like $35k after the first negotiation (originally making close to 50k), and now he said his pay would have gone down to $25k if they had accepted. That's a huge cut. Still, the other 12k employees who aren't unionized feel they got screwed by the union members I'm sure.

Also, Hostess' board is now controlled by hedge funds... which are notoriously unwilling to negotiate. They have a dollar amount in mind that they want to see for a profit margin, and if it's 10%, they're not going to budge from that, even if 8% would be something the unions would agree with. They figure they can sell off parts of the company and recoup their investment that way, while not having to pay for workers salaries for a year or more, nor pensions, if there are any.

[93STLTH]

I can't tell you the last time I had a Twinkie, been more than 20 years, I'd guess. But it is an icon, something that almost everyone has had or at least knows what it is. Hate to see things like that go away, even if it's reproduced by another company, it won't be the same.