Goodbye to The Unionized Twinkie

Sadly, the Hostess Brands Company filed for liquidation on November 16, as union picketers walked the picket line around numerous locations, demanding yet more concessions from a company that was already sliding into the abyss of oblivion. The company asked for concessions from the union, but the union would rather see 18,500 employees out of work nation wide than give in to save jobs. Eight percent reduction in pay and paying twenty percent of their medical costs would be too much to handle to keep working. Unemployment must have looked a lot better. Or at least that's what the union bosses decided.

From the press:

"A small union's stubbornness in contract talks with Hostess is being blamed for the shutdown of one of America's snack food icons, the loss of 18,500 jobs just before the holiday season and much-needed tax revenue from hundreds of plants and shops across the country.

The privately-held company had reached a deal with the Teamsters, but a smaller union representing bakery workers refused to agree to concessions, prompting the mass layoffs and closing down of hundreds of plants, bakeries and delivery routes. That prompted harsh words from both the company and from Teamsters officials.

The national strike by members of the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) that began last week decimated the 82-year-old company’s ability to produce and deliver products at roughly 12 of its 33 plants. The company announced earlier in the week that the ax would fall on Friday if the strikers didn’t get back to work, but the union didn’t blink.'

So, folks, when you no longer have your favorite snack cakes on the shelves, be it Twinkies, Ho-Ho's, Ring Dings, Sno-Balls, Devil Dogs, Hostess Cup Cakes or even Wonder Bread, don't blame Hostess for failure. They declared bankruptcy once already and were trying to crawl out of that hole. But unfortunately, the weight of union demands placed them in an untenable position.

It's kind of a strange epitaph when a company is placed in a position to tell the union that if you don't go back to work, we can't sustain ourselves, and will have to close and liquidate, and the union essentially says screw you, and the inevitable happens. Then listen to the wailing of the workers who have no jobs but relied on the union to be their spokesperson and do right by them. Sadly, the workers, in my opinion, got screwed by the union they trusted!

There are no winners here, just losers. Including all those lovers of the fine products you have enjoyed for generations. And the families of all those workers who really had no say in the demise of this great business.

RIP, Twinkies...