Twinkies are dead!!!!!!!!

[JDE101]

Maybe the Mayans were right! Maybe the world is going to end next month! I mean, no more Twinkies! I first heard about it on Mike and Mike on ESPN this morning and couldn't believe it! I immediately thought of Woodie and Zombieland, and decided to stop at the grocery store and stock up. Unfortunately, I got side tracked and it slipped my mind till I heard it again on the evening news. After dinner, I drove out to the nearest Meijers store and low and behold, the shelves were bare of all Hostess products--not just the Twinkies! I waited to long!

I'm over 70 years old, and have been eating Twinkies since I was in grade school! I can't imagine a world without Twinkies!

And I DO blame the unions! I grew up in Gary, Indiana. My dad worked for US Steel and was a "union" member, as were the fathers of many, many of my friends and classmates. When they went on strike, THEY never recouped the wages they lost. The NEXT batch of worker made out OK--but the workers who went on strike never made out. Oh, by the way, the Union Officials made out OK! The steel mill eventually went under, Gary became a virtual ghost town, and the steel is now made overseas by foreign workers!

I agree that unions were good and necessary back in the days of the "Robber Barons", the "company stores", no benefits for the workers, exploitation of the workers, etc. But then the tables turned and the unions got powerful--and the union bosses got crooked and greedy, and things began to go the other way.

I think taking a small paycut now to keep my job and keep a company going would be preferable to not having a job at all! But gee, that isn't the American way anymore! We have largely become a me first society with the attitude that the government will take care of us! OK, off my soapbox!

Even though they weren't exactly health food, I am really going to miss having a Twinkie on occasion. And I certainly don't intend to eat any that may come from China in the future!!!!

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[oakchas]

CCW9mm,

I too enjoy your posts. Having been on both sides of the union fence, I can see both sides... And I really don't want this to become political.

There will be no winners in this debacle, on either side. On that, I think we can agree.

Unions still have a valid place in this country... And HOG (HD motorcycles) would have gone the way of the Twinkie a long time ago, if not for the unions. Walmart workers that were forced to work off the clock could have used one (a union) , too.

I find it ironic that unions won't allow their own hourly staff to unionize...

So, there are two sides to every story... Sometimes, we can meet in the middle, sometimes not.

I'll miss twinkies, a little.

[msgt/ret]

My experience with unions is limited but when I was stationed at Eglin we attempted to fire an individual in the electrical shop, it took two years and a stack of paperwork that would have foundered a horse. Another time I sat for two hours waiting for a union electrician to waddle over to replace a light bulb the forklift operator broke, that cost me a good load headed out west instead I was stuck with a different load in the northeast. I was in New Jersey when the Roadway drivers were on strike, while waiting around to get unloaded I was talking to one of the union drivers. We got to comparing benefits, I not only had better benefits as a non-union driver but my pay was not reduced by union dues.

[Ben Hennessy]

I agree one million percent. And I would add, that the union bosses will get to keep their high paying jobs; paid, of course, by those membership dues.

As the same, CEO's makemore and have better lives than their workers. I do not get this point. I live close enough to St. Louis to get the news channel there and somewhere in the story was a bit about a CEO salary going from 75 thousand a year to 2 million a year. If that was happening to me I would vote to close the building down rather than consintly being kicked. And for those that say just find another job, union mrmbers have a contract and the other side should honor that contract. Not try to lower your pay while raising their pay.

[ccw9mm]

So, for you junk-aholics in the crowd: what do Twinkies taste like, these days? Haven't had one since ... oh, probably the Carter Administration.

[Erick46590]

Brinkleberg......

[aznav]

It's God's Will.


Twinkies.jpg

[Caertaker]

Caretaker Hostess was already in Chapter 7. A part of their restructuring was the reduction in wages which the bakers union refused to allow. (Also this was their second time through chapter 7, not third as someone said.) The Teamsters understood that this wasn't a case of the executives trying to gain an inch in negotiations but that it was the bottom line. The baker's union wouldn't allow a secret ballot on whether to continue the strike and leaders rejected Hostess' offers. When you get to the bottom line there's no choice left, so they stopped production and will sell off. Sadly the idiots that made the decision will suffer far less than the people they just put out of work. The union bosses tend to live much better than the membership.

No Hostess was not in Chapter 7 which ends in liquidation, it was in Chapter 11 which grants protection from creditors. That's a fact... not that those matter much these days.

Hostess Brands - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chapter 7, Title 11, United States Code - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Jeanlouise]

If Twinkies resurrect themselves as a product from China...do not eat one! Don't put anything in your mouth that comes from China. They have no real controls like we do here (FDA) and their standards are very low.

That goes for the toothpaste and mouthwash, and body wash for that matter that is often sold in Dollar stores. Check it before you buy it, even name brands. If it's made in China, don't buy it.

My Mom is 93 and lives in a Nursing Home. Last Christmas some well intentioned person gave her a bottle of hand lotion that was manufactured in China. It was a very pretty bottle, smelled nice and all that, but she broke out in a bad rash on her arms and we couldn't figure out what the heck was causing it. Then it dawned on me that she had the new hand lotion. I put my reading glasses on and looked at the teeny, tiny print on the back and sure enough, "made in China". I threw it away, the rash cleared up in a few days and all was good. But, no telling what was in that lotion!

[PEF]

Hope all those Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers & Grain Millers Union (BCTGM) members have a great Thanksgiving, knowing that they put 18,000 people out of work.

Unions had a place at one time. So did the horse & buggy.

Just another road sign along the highway of the demise of American Exceptionalism.

[Jeanlouise]

twinkies.jpg

[ccw9mm]

Hope all those Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers & Grain Millers Union (BCTGM) members have a great Thanksgiving, knowing that they put 18,000 people out of work.

The company would likely not be teetering so long, if it had viable products. I'm betting unionized labor was only one element, in a long string of troubles.

[Hopyard]

The Hostess Liquidation: A Curious Cast Of Characters As The Twinkie Tumbles | ZeroHedge ....Hostess Closes Three Bakeries, Blames Striking Union ...My comment is if you are reading this after this long thread of junk-food and fat people haters ranting...well then.....take a deep breath, really.... the loser in this situation is the stock holders who came out of bankruptsy in 09 owing SIGNifigantly more than they did before...this large multi-state operation has been raped and pilaged and was HOPElessly inslovent in 09...it was concessions by the good hard working union hands that allowed the theft that has followed to occure...this IS the business for the 21st century, get used to it...

THis comment quoted from the link you provided, if true, would explain the situation.

"At that time, the union says, workers' concessions were diverted from their intended purposes and instead "went to executive bonuses and payouts to the hedge funds that own Hostess Brands." Hostess' then-CEO received a 300% raise, according to union claims."

[Hopyard]

The company would likely not be teetering so long, if it had viable products. I'm betting unionized labor was only one element, in a long string of troubles.

Well, Hostess certainly had a bunch of viable products, many of which I considered
essential nutrients.

[Hopyard]

I agree that unions were good and necessary back in the days of the "Robber Barons", the "company stores", no benefits for the workers, exploitation of the workers, etc.

Our times, in other words.