Hostess Brands Says It Fails to Reach Labor Deal in Mediation

[tttppp]

By the way, we are better off without most of their products.

 

[ghengis86]

Twinkies and wonder bread will still be around. The brand has value and will be bought. Even if they disappeared another corn syrup stuffed, corn sweetened corn roll would take their place.

 

[tttppp]

Twinkies and wonder bread will still be around. The brand has value and will be bought. Even if they disappeared another corn syrup stuffed, corn sweetened corn roll would take their place.

Unfortunately.

 

[angelatc]

Unfortunately.

Don't eat them if you don't like them. It's really that simple!

 

[pacelli]

The company will just change its name and continue producing. That's what Diebold did, and look at how recession-proof they became.

They're only putting up this mediation bullshit to play around with the people in the fiat markets right now. I wonder how many retirement plans Hostess was a part of ?

 

[angelatc]

All this talk about hostess is making me crave a twinkie. Perhaps this is just an elaborate marketing idea to sell more product.

I don't care for Twinkies, but those fruit pies, packed with preservatives and dipped in glaze? Sigh. Our local grocer has a knock-off in the bakery, but they're not the same.

Hostess went through a spell a few years ago where they cut back severely on the fruit, but that seemed better last time I had one.

The union workers are trumpeting this as some sort of a victory. I almost feel bad for them. They don't seem to realize that the war is over now.

 

[torchbearer]

I don't care for Twinkies, but those fruit pies, packed with preservatives and dipped in glaze? Sigh. Our local grocer has a knock-off in the bakery, but they're not the same.

Hostess went through a spell a few years ago where they cut back severely on the fruit, but that seemed better last time I had one.

The union workers are trumpeting this as some sort of a victory. I almost feel bad for them. They don't seem to realize that the war is over now.

the animals took over the farm... but then, there was no more farm.

 

[youngbuck]

the animals took over the farm... but then, there was no more farm.

Perfect. And I don't feel sorry for the animals at all when there's nobody around to feed and water them. Of course it's now gov'ts job to do that nowadays.

 

[Lucille]

Were Those Reasonable Teamsters Really the Bad Guys in Hostess Fight?
http://reason.com/blog/2012/11/21/were-those-reasonable-teamsters-really-t

Here’s an interesting Hostess liquidation counter-narrative: Though the Teamsters appeared to be trying to be the voice of reason in this union battle with the snack manufacturer, is it because the truckers had a nice little protection racket the bakers union was paying the price for?

Holman W. Jenkins at the Wall Street Journal wrote a column suggesting that the minority union was paying the price not just for bad management and pension underfunding, but for Teamster-friendly expensive distribution regulations:

Union-imposed work rules stopped drivers from helping to load their trucks. A separate worker, arriving at the store in a separate vehicle, had to be employed to shift goods from a storage area to a retailer's shelf. Wonder Bread and Twinkies couldn't ride on the same truck.

Hostess has spent eight of the past 11 years in bankruptcy. As the company explained to its latest judge, the Hostess brands "have not been able to profit from many of their existing delivery stops and have been unable to enter potentially profitable markets, such as dollar stores, vending services and movie theaters."

None of this had much to do with the bakers union:

Under pressure on Monday from Judge Robert Drain to back down from their strike aimed at forcing the company to liquidate, the bakers themselves pointed to "what everyone in the baking industry knew: Hostess's production costs were neither excessive nor out of line with the market but its distribution costs were—to the tune of between $80 million and $130 million annually."

One could always ask about the wisdom of a labor-law structure that causes companies like Hostess to drag on for decades without adapting to their marketplaces. One might question whether the bakers are acting in true and brotherly solidarity. But given the circumstances that actually exist, the bakers might well prefer to hold back further concessions, let the company liquidate, and try their luck with a new owner or owners who might materialize for its bakery operations.

Very sad.

 

[tttppp]

Don't eat them if you don't like them. It's really that simple!

That's not the point. All our healthcare costs go up because stupid people eat this garbage then seek medical care because of it.

 

[torchbearer]

wow

 

[paulbot24]

There's enough civil unrest in this forum to make Atlas tremble.

 

[angelatc]

That's not the point. All our healthcare costs go up because stupid people eat this garbage then seek medical care because of it.

Freedom doesn't even apply to what I choose to eat? Wow, indeed.

And economically speaking, you're channeling liberal economic theory. (of course, calling people who don't choose to live with your stick up their butt "stupid" is also a sign of liberalism ) In reality, high prices ensure adequate supply, Increasing supply brings down price, but decreasing demand doesn't necessarily decrease price.

For example, cardiologists would retire and not be replaced in that field if demand fell. Instead, new graduates would specialize in more lucrative fields.

 

[Lucille]

Union Rules were Harder to Digest than Twinkies
http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2012-11-22/union-rules-were-harder-digest-twinkies

Myth: Twinkies have a shelf-life of forever. They don't; they stay fresh for about 25 days.

The national labor bosses stood firm. Labor leaders are proud they stood up to those nasty ‘suits’ [see Entourage for definition] who refused to run a money-losing business simply to continue paying salaries and benefits.

Hostess posted a $341 million loss in 2011 on revenues of about $2.5 billion. Contributing to those 2011 losses:

• $52 million in Workers’ Comp Claims
• Dealing with 372 Distinct Collective-Bargaining Contracts
• Administration of 80 Separate Health and Benefits Plans
• Funding and Tending to 40 Discrete Pension Plans
• $31 million in year-over-year increases in wages and health care benefits for 2012 v. 2011

Uncounted in the above numbers were the outrageous union-imposed rules that made for a too-high-to-bear cost of sales:

• No truck could carry both bread and snacks even when going to the same location
• Drivers were not permitted to load their own trucks
• Workers who loaded bread were not allowed to also load snacks
• Bringing products from back rooms to shelves required another set of union employees
• Multi-Employer pension obligations made Hostess liable for other, previously bankrupted, retirement plan contributions from employees that never worked for Hostess at all

America has come to this. The only defense against insane union demands is the willingness to walk away and close shop.

 

[tttppp]

Freedom doesn't even apply to what I choose to eat? Wow, indeed.

And economically speaking, you're channeling liberal economic theory. (of course, calling people who don't choose to live with your stick up their butt "stupid" is also a sign of liberalism ) In reality, high prices ensure adequate supply, Increasing supply brings down price, but decreasing demand doesn't necessarily decrease price.

For example, cardiologists would retire and not be replaced in that field if demand fell. Instead, new graduates would specialize in more lucrative fields.

You are incorrect. My ideas come from myself not from the democratic party. All I suggested was to have incentives for the good things and disincentives for the bad things. You would still have the right to buy whatever crap you want.