I love unions.......

[Obvious Li]

no i really really hate unions and their gangster leaders....slugs



Twinkies maker Hostess is going out of business, putting almost 18,500 out of work



Tanya Agrawal, Reuters

    We deeply regret the necessity of today's decision, but we do not have the financial resources to weather an extended nationwide strike



Hostess Brands Inc, the bankrupt maker of Twinkies and Wonder Bread, said it had sought court permission to go out of business after failing to get wage and benefit cuts from thousands of its striking bakery workers.



Hostess said a national strike by members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union that began last week had crippled its ability to produce and deliver products at several facilities.



The liquidation of the company will mean that most of its 18,500 employees will lose their jobs, Hostess said on Friday.



Getty ImagesHostess brands include Wonder, Nature's Pride, Dolly Madison, Drake's, Butternut, Home Pride and Merita, but it is probably best known for Twinkies — basically a cream-filled sponge cake.



The 82-year-old company said it took the decision to shut down after determining that not enough employees had returned to work by a deadline on Thursday.



The company, which filed for bankruptcy in January for the second time since 2004, said it had filed a motion with U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain in White Plains, New York, for permission to shut down and sell assets.





"We deeply regret the necessity of today's decision, but we do not have the financial resources to weather an extended nationwide strike," Chief Executive Gregory Rayburn said in a statement.



"Hostess Brands will move promptly to lay off most of its 18,500-member workforce and focus on selling its assets to the highest bidders," Rayburn added.



Union President Frank Hurt said on Thursday that the crisis at the company was the "result of nearly a decade of financial and operational mismanagement" and that management was trying to make union workers the scapegoats for a plan by Wall Street investors to sell Hostess.



Hostess said its debtor-in-possession lenders had agreed to allow the it to continue to have access to US$75 million to fund the wind-down process.



"There's no way to soften the fact that this will hurt every Hostess Brands employee. All Hostess Brands employees will eventually lose their jobs – some sooner than others," Rayburn said in a letter to employees.



The company has canceled all orders in process with its suppliers and said any product in transit would be returned to the shipper.



In its filing with the court, the company said it would have incurred a loss of between US$7.5 million and US$9.5 million from Nov. 9 to Nov. 19 in lost sales and increased costs.



"These losses and other factors, including increased vendor payment terms contraction, have resulted in a significant weakening of the debtors' cash position and, if continued, would soon result in the debtors completely running out of cash," it said.



Hostess had already reached agreement on pay and benefit cuts with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, its largest union.



The case is In re: Hostess Brands Inc, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, No. 12-22052.

[Romero]

The crisis facing Hostess Brands is the result of nearly a decade of financial and operational mismanagement that resulted in two bankruptcies, mountains of debt, declining sales and lost market share.  The Wall Street investors who took over the company after the last bankruptcy attempted to resolve the mess by attacking the company's most valuable asset – its workers.



"Unfortunately however, for the past eight years management of the company has been in the hands of Wall Street investors, "restructuring experts", third-tier managers from other non-baking food companies and currently a "liquidation specialist".  Six CEO's in eight years, none of whom with any bread and cake baking industry experience, was the prescription for failure.



http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/11/16/kelly-mcparland-death-of-the-twinkie-offers-a-lesson-in-management-worker-relations/">//http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/11/16/kelly-mcparland-death-of-the-twinkie-offers-a-lesson-in-management-worker-relations/

Vulture capitalism doing what it does best.

[Anonymous]

Obvious Li and Shen Li are being unfair to the striking workers who will lose their jobs..



You could show some compassion.

[Obvious Li]

Obvious Li and Shen Li are being unfair to the striking workers who will lose their jobs..



You could show some compassion.

i cannot abide stupidity for stupidity's sake.....when all else fails even real stupid people have to learn their lessons the hard way.....sorry to say they probably won't get a second chance to learn their new found knowledge about the efficacy of the union leadership......just one of life's hard lessons...........i have compassion for the stakeholders who will lose money when their shares go to zero......

[Anonymous]

Obvious Li and Shen Li are being unfair to the striking workers who will lose their jobs..



You could show some compassion.

i cannot abide stupidity for stupidity's sake.....when all else fails even real stupid people have to learn their lessons the hard way.....sorry to say they probably won't get a second chance to learn their new found knowledge about the efficacy of the union leadership......just one of life's hard lessons...........i have compassion for the stakeholders who will lose money when their shares go to zero......

I don't have your business knowledge, but I do know those job losses will hurt real families.

[Obvious Li]

Obvious Li and Shen Li are being unfair to the striking workers who will lose their jobs..



You could show some compassion.

i cannot abide stupidity for stupidity's sake.....when all else fails even real stupid people have to learn their lessons the hard way.....sorry to say they probably won't get a second chance to learn their new found knowledge about the efficacy of the union leadership......just one of life's hard lessons...........i have compassion for the stakeholders who will lose money when their shares go to zero......

I don't have your business knowledge, but I do know those job losses will hurt real families.

maybe they should have thought about that before they killed their jobs...ya think

[Romero]

They should be working twelve hour days for minimum wage.



It's not worth having less than a decent, liveable wage. They workers give in, they suffer, then the company will just squeeze more out of them next time. These kind of corporations would have us go back to the Industrial Age.

[Lydo Wolf]

I used to belong to a union.  They have good points and bad points. They are good for certain situations and it's the people who make the union what it is. When we were laid off we used to get a stamp on our separation slips and when we went to collect unemployment cheques they would see that stamp and our card would come 2 to 3 weeks faster then the men or women who didn't have that stamp. That was one good point about belonging to a union.

[Anonymous]

I am a unionized government employee and I have been my entire working career except when my husband worked abroad.



My wages are similar to what I would make in the private sector, but why I like about what I do is the flexibility.



I can rollover my annual vacation time each year which would not be possible if I was an Administrator at my husband's company.



I'm very satisfied with my job.

[Obvious Li]

I am a unionized government employee and I have been my entire working career except when my husband worked abroad.



My wages are similar to what I would make in the private sector, but why I like about what I do is the flexibility.



I can rollover my annual vacation time each year which would not be possible if I was an Administrator at my husband's company.



I'm very satisfied with my job.

[/b]





most gvt. unionistas are.......the problem is we have to pay you about double (wages and benefits) what anyone in the private sector doing the same job would get....and your pension will eventually bankrupt this country if left unchecked.....and that doesn't even get into the discussion regarding productivity.......however, there is not a lot anyone is willing to do to rectify the situation so carry on...might as well be you as someone else.....probably the main reason my main object in life is to get money back from the govt......

[Romero]

Union workers do an important job for a deserved, decent wage. You're being paid for not working and sitting on your ass!



Workers put into their pensions. Government pension plans are an investment and stable for the long run. You're the one milking the system and getting more than what you've given.



You have no idea just how socialist you are. You don't even work, yet you feel entitled. How ironic that your entitlements are being paid for with the help of union workers.

[Anonymous]

I am a unionized government employee and I have been my entire working career except when my husband worked abroad.



My wages are similar to what I would make in the private sector, but why I like about what I do is the flexibility.



I can rollover my annual vacation time each year which would not be possible if I was an Administrator at my husband's company.



I'm very satisfied with my job.

[/b]





most gvt. unionistas are.......the problem is we have to pay you about double (wages and benefits) what anyone in the private sector doing the same job would get....and your pension will eventually bankrupt this country if left unchecked.....and that doesn't even get into the discussion regarding productivity.......however, there is not a lot anyone is willing to do to rectify the situation so carry on...might as well be you as someone else.....probably the main reason my main object in life is to get money back from the govt......

I think my wages are a little lower than what I would make in a large private company.



My benefits are close to what a large private company would offer.



I'm very happy with my pension, but that's not what I like best.



I have paid sick days and a flexible schedule that allows me to tend to my family's needs.

[Anonymous]

Union workers do an important job for a deserved, decent wage. You're being paid for not working and sitting on your ass!



Workers put into their pensions. Government pension plans are an investment and stable for the long run. You're the one milking the system and getting more than what you've given.



You have no idea just how socialist you are. You don't even work, yet you feel entitled. How ironic that your entitlements are being paid for with the help of union workers.

No offense Romero, but I think you have made a mistake.



In another thread Obvious Li gave his biography.



He never mentioned that he is receiving a pension, but he has also said he wants to get all the money he has paid back..



Maybe you know something about Obvious Li that I do not.

[Romero]

I'm actually talking about the fact that he's on EI right now and people like you pay into your pensions and Obvious's EI benefits.  :)



He's got a lot of nerve complaining about workers and union workers when our work and pay is helping him sit on his ass.

[Anonymous]

I'm actually talking about the fact that he's on EI right now and people like you pay into your pensions and Obvious's EI benefits.  :)

He's on EI? I was unaware of that.



I was on EI twice for my maternity leave.



My husband was on it once too when he was starting out in his career.



I'm sure glad it is there if people need it.