Twinkie Apocolypse

[SnusoMatic]

bakerbarber I thank you for that post. I have been very interested in how it all came about. I have been a member of union and also had the doors closed on me twice in this manner.

I can understand it from several view points but mostly I feel sorry for the workers. The older workers and the workers who have no skills. Those people are about to find out what rough times are. I bet some of them have worked there since they left high school and never even had another job. I can remember the last time it happened to me most of the older guys knew they were screwed. Many of the younger guys thought they would leave and walk right into another good paying job. I knew what I had coming and looked at them with sorrow. Hardly any of them ever got a job that paid as well. Some turned into drunks, etc.

Far as union goes... there was a time when unions saved the day. for the most part these days I think they end up costing the unskilled worker their job. My best friend is union, my wife is union, my father was union and like I said, I was union. I won't cross a picket line because I am scared my dad will appear out of no where and slap my head. I was raised that way haha. But when you have to pay four people to do the same job it cost too much to have the job done.

Dang, I was hoping they would some how work this out but I guess its a lost cause.

Thanks for the great info!

[SnusoMatic]

Yes, how dare those $12 an hour bakery workers demand no more pay cuts from their $2.5 million per year CEO.

that's not what I said. I know exactly what those 18,500 people are about to face and it's not a joke. Those bakers make more than I ever did by the hour so 12 is looking up to me. Those 2,500 bakers could have went to work and quit and made their point. Then those clerks in their stores making $17 a hour could have keep feeding their children.

http://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Host...es-E329177.htm

Maybe it takes being unskilled with a good paying job and losing it. Ms. Clerk making $17 a hour is going to go down to $7 a hour.

[texastorm]

As an ex union employee and and ex democrat pawn, I can say with assurity that this story is the way it should be. Unions at one time were needed, and in the future will be needed again. The ability to form them is a right we cannot afford to lose. However once as a group they gain at least average wages and benefits, then sit down and shut up. Unions that keep pushing a company into the abyss belong in the abyss.

My father was union as well and he too saw the light before his death. Sadly I have several union friends that drink the koolaid make fun of libertarians and simply don't understand why their unions demands can be unreasonable. So you can say its both sides if you want to, the sad fact is that most of what happened did so because of the unions constant unwillingness to bend. Regulations that made people do things in a non efficient way are simply non efficient. These ancient rituals may have been good in good times, but will destroy a company in bad times.

If a company wants to stay on top it has do do one thing almost constantly, and that is change. Unions as a rule don't change very often, rarely back up on benefits unless job loss is looming just on the horizon, and cannot look more than a month into the future, when what may be best might be five years of constant change.

So heres to unions, and their impending doom. Lets hope they dont fight themselves into oblivion, because I truly believe we need the rights to have them.

[Snusdog]

Great posts guys. BB thanks for all the insights into this unfortunate situation

[lxskllr]

I just read this from a union guy's perspective that worked at Hostess...

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/1...ostess-Bankery

[devilock76]

An 8% reduction of pay and a 17% increase of insurance costs is not a 25% reduction in pay. I mean worst case 10% of their gross went to health care out of their pay check. A 17% increase to that 10% would be 1.7% of their total take home so would be a 9.7% reduction of their gross. Factoring in how that affects their tax rate since it is a pretax deduction then the actual impact on take home pay would probably be around 6-7% total, give or take.

Addendum, 10% would be for single, no dependents. If the person in question has a family, particularly kids and their spouse on the plan (it is always expensive to add the spouse) then something like that could make it a good 20-25% of their gross pay. However even still a 17% of 25% is 4.25 percent of their gross pay. So the net impact in that case is more like 12.25%.

Yeah I work on accounting software for my day job...

Ken

[truthwolf1]

1) 8% hourly pay cut in year 1 with additional cuts totaling 27% over 5 years. Currently, I make $16.12 an hour at TOP rate of pay in the bakery. I would drop to $11.26 in 5 years.
2) They get to keep our $3+ an hour forever.
3) Doubling of weekly insurance premium.
4) Lowering of overall quality of insurance plan.
5) TOTAL withdrawal from ALL pensions. If you don't have it now then you never will.
Remember how I said I made $48,000 in 2005 and $34,000 last year? I would make $25,000 in 5 years if I took their offer.

This exact scenario is quite common in many fields of work. I currently am making the same salary as I was in 1999-00. It took twelve years to slowly build it back. I still would of taken the deal knowing and experiencing what I have over the years. Yes, it would suck but you still have a job, health benefits and can start looking for a better job. Not sure why? but you are more likely to get hired if you already have a job.

We have had a decade of stagnant wages with possibly another decade to follow.

The bigger picture is that this is the big slide into globalization, which will drop close to everyone's existing lifestyles.

Like I said four years ago. This is the new economy.

My feeling now is that this is going to get a whole lot worse for a lot of people and I hope I am completely wrong on that prediction.

[SnusoMatic]

This exact scenario is quite common in many fields of work. I currently am making the same salary as I was in 1999-00. It took twelve years to slowly build it back. I still would of taken the deal knowing and experiencing what I have over the years. Yes, it would suck but you still have a job, health benefits and can start looking for a better job. Not sure why? but you are more likely to get hired if you already have a job.

We have had a decade of stagnant wages with possibly another decade to follow.

The bigger picture is that this is the big slide into globalization, which will drop close to everyone's existing lifestyles.

Like I said four years ago. This is the new economy.

My feeling now is that this is going to get a whole lot worse for a lot of people and I hope I am completely wrong on that prediction.

I can't agree with you more. Right now there are millions of people who would knife fight to have jobs like that. There aint no feeling worse than waking up and wondering how you will feed your kids.