The twinkie thread

**green-lantern** · 11-19-2012, 01:09 PM

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** · 11-19-2012, 01:22 PM

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.

**NickS VR4** · 11-19-2012, 01:27 PM

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** · 11-19-2012, 03:11 PM

I'm more sad about losing Zinger's.

**UTRacerX9** · 11-19-2012, 07:19 PM

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** · 11-19-2012, 09:08 PM

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.

**IPD** · 11-19-2012, 09:32 PM

i blame the unions. period. if you made 50k and would be down to making 25k, then find a different job. bottom line is, you are now out of a job, rather than still being employed and (in your own mind) underpaid. blame yourself for not being able to find work in this shitty economy. it pisses me off because that's MORE government money towards unemployment that could have been prevented.

p.s.

just have little debbies buy them out and that will be the end of it.

**Alex3000gt** · 11-19-2012, 09:46 PM

If you haven't purchased their product in the past 10 years, perhaps that is a sign of why they are closing their doors.

**NickS VR4** · 11-19-2012, 10:14 PM

Originally Posted by Alex3000gt

If you haven't purchased their product in the past 10 years, perhaps that is a sign of why they are closing their doors.

Perhaps.

Wonder if the unions would allow for more modern equipment that would cause a downsize of staff needed. If you need X volume and have 18k workers with old equipment.... could they keep up with that demand with newer machines and 9k workers?

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**beepbeep** · 11-19-2012, 11:00 PM

How about the executives and upper management giving themselves 80% raises with the money earmarked for updating equipment and replenishing retirement funds? How about in the bankruptcy papers, they are asking for $5 million for the CEO? How about during the last negotiations, the hedge funds and management wanted the employees to completely relinquish $2 million of their own retirement benefits---just so executives could keep their pay. They are always 2 sides, folks. Easy to blame the unions (hate them, personally) but in this instance, there is more to the story.