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Opening Arguments

Twinkie twilight

I blame Michelle Obama:

Struggling in bankruptcy court, Hostess Brands is warning more than 18,500 employees nationwide that their jobs are in jeopardy if the company can’t emerge from Chapter 11 reorganization or find a buyer.

The company’s warning affects at least 856 employees in Indiana, most of them workers in Hostess commercial bakeries, retail stores or distributing the company’s iconic breads and treats including Twinkies.

How bleak and sad would be a world without Twinkies and Ding Dongs and Ho Hos be. Yeak, OK, fine, "the public mood has turned against high-fat, sugary foods like those made by Hostess." Go be fit and trim and miserable then.

Comments

Tim Zank
Thu, 05/10/2012 - 10:18am

A company like Hostess can change it's offerings pretty quickly and easily to recapture market share, but it requires flexibility and they have none with the unions, they are inflexible so once again we'll probably see the same old result of "better to have no jobs than non-union jobs"..

nose/spite/face etal.

 

littlejohn
Thu, 05/10/2012 - 11:14am

Tim, you're just a walking Republican talking point machine. On the basis of no evidence, you can't keep yourself from blaming the unions.

How did the unions persuade Americans that it's not a good idea to eat sugary, indestructible, foodlike substances? How do you know that it's easy for Hostess to retool to make another kind of food? Are you a food technology expert?

You have no idea what you're talking about. But it just has to be those Commie union members.

tim zank
Thu, 05/10/2012 - 6:10pm

Littlejohn, try using Teh Google...

Put in "hostess bankruptcy unions"

Read the first oh, 10 to 12 articles....

Go back and read my post....

You can cut back the sugar and make a snack a different shape, but you can't do that when the unions have you over a barrel and the legacy costs force you into bankruptcy AND then the uhion decides a strike is in order....

I honestly can't believe you or any of the other unemployed union backers that whine so incessantly aren't smart enough to see any cause and effect after unions have broken so many companies and unions are now a shrinking and paltry 12% of all workers...

Not exactly rocket science, it's basic math.

 

Christopher Swing
Thu, 05/10/2012 - 10:35pm

Hmm, well, let's roll with the Christian Science Monitor. They have a pretty reasonable rep for reportage.

"The privately held company's contract offer this weekend included reduced pension benefits, work rule changes to lower costs and outsourcing some delivery work."

So management wants to toss the contracts so they can pay the workers less and use non-union workers for some delivery work.

"The Teamsters said its counter offer includes $150 million in concessions a year, including the suspension of pension contributions until next summer. The reductions would be in addition to $110 million in concessions the union made about three years ago. The union also said it wants controls put in place to ensure the company doesn't "squander concessions.""

And the union made a counter offer that's less painful, but still significant apparently, and in addition to the concessions they already made.

Where the hell is there anything in there about the union not allowing the management to make even a slightly different product that will actually sell better?

Or is there some double-secret provision of the contract where the union dictates the lard content of the snacks that only you're privy to, Tim Zank?

"The comment was in part a reference to the revelations this month that 11 Hostess executives were given pay hikes of up to 80 percent last summer. Last week, Hostess said eight of those executives had agreed to sharp salary cuts. Three others, including former CEO Brian Driscoll — have left the company."

Ah, but I see at least three members of management managed to score fat cash and get away clean before the others got caught.

Yeah, the union is obviously the problem there.

Christopher Swing
Thu, 12/13/2012 - 3:39pm

Special Twinkie Update for Zank in particular...

Twinkie CEO Admits Company Took Employees Pensions and Put It Toward Executive Pay

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal , Hostess’ CEO, Gregory Rayburn, essentially admitted that his company stole employee pension money and put it toward CEO and senior executive pay (aka “operations”). While this isn't technically illegal, it's another sleazy theft by Hostess executives - who've paid themselves handsomely while running their company into the ground. Just last month, a judge agreed to let Hostess executives suck another $1.8 million out of the bankrupt company to pay bonuses to CEOs. 

 

Yeah Tim, unions are the problem here, obviously.

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