Those unions watching out for their workers...

[Jeffwhosoever]

So much for private sector job growth and the "recovery" of Obama.

 

[kiwimac]

You must have missed the point that it was vultures in the form of managers who caused this.

 

[PreachersWife2004]

You must have missed the point that it was vultures in the form of managers who caused this.

Sure, I imagine Hostess might've gone through another restructuring.

But people would still be employed.

Now there's 18,000 people looking for work. You gonna hire them?

 

[Thekla]

Sure, I imagine Hostess might've gone through another restructuring.

But people would still be employed.

Now there's 18,000 people looking for work. You gonna hire them?

Given their history, restructuring was possible but any success unlikely.

Ie, it was a matter of time with little guarantee of positive outcome; Hotess was a mess. I think what we're seeing now is one way of getting to a 'foregone conclusion'.

(They failed to shed debt at their first restructuring, instead taking on gobs more of debt that was squandered instead of invested. And since when is a Twinkie cookbook a 'turnaround' plan when upgrades are needed.)

 

[[serious]]

Sure, I imagine Hostess might've gone through another restructuring.

But people would still be employed.

Now there's 18,000 people looking for work. You gonna hire them?

Well, "employed" making less than their unemployment benefit but without the time to look for a job that would actually pay their mortgages. That means they basically would have been working for no money. I would have refused further cuts too.

 

[MachZer0]

Well, "employed" making less than their unemployment benefit but without the time to look for a job that would actually pay their mortgages. That means they basically would have been working for no money. I would have refused further cuts too.

Hopefully they'll be denied unemployment benefits. Doesn't make sense for taxpayers to pick up the tab for people who willfully caused their own unemployment

 

[Redac]

Hopefully they'll be denied unemployment benefits. Doesn't make sense for taxpayers to pick up the tab for people who willfully caused their own unemployment

Is there any actual chance that'll happen? Or is that just some Mach wish?

 

[[serious]]

Hopefully they'll be denied unemployment benefits. Doesn't make sense for taxpayers to pick up the tab for people who willfully caused their own unemployment

Yes, let's all hope they lose their homes and that their children starve. It is what the great Market demands as sacrifice!

I liked you better when you were acknowledging that Hostess was simply making a product people no longer wanted.

 

[USincognito]

Is there any actual chance that'll happen? Or is that just some Mach wish?

Yes, let's all hope they lose their homes and that their children starve. It is what the great Market demands as sacrifice!

I liked you better when you were acknowledging that Hostess was simply making a product people no longer wanted.

I remember a time when Americans would hope their fellow Americans would land on their feet when facing a trial.

Some people now, it seems, are so blinded by partisan hatred that they wish ill and harm on their fellow Americans.

It's positively un-American I tell ya.

 

[MachZer0]

Is there any actual chance that'll happen? Or is that just some Mach wish?

back in the day, you could be denied unemployment benefits for causing your own unemployment as these workers did. Can't say if that's changed or not.

 

[MachZer0]

Yes, let's all hope they lose their homes and that their children starve. It is what the great Market demands as sacrifice!

I liked you better when you were acknowledging that Hostess was simply making a product people no longer wanted.

Decisions have consequences. These are workers who refused to work. As such, they do not deserve our assistance.

 

[MachZer0]

I remember a time when Americans would hope their fellow Americans would land on their feet when facing a trial.

Some people now, it seems, are so blinded by partisan hatred that they wish ill and harm on their fellow Americans.

It's positively un-American I tell ya.

These few striking workers caused thousands of others who were willing to work to lose their jobs

 

[kiwimac]

These few striking workers caused thousands of others who were willing to work to lose their jobs

Of COURSE they did!

 

[jgarden]

In 2010, the percentage of workers belonging to a union in the United States (or total labor union "density") was 11.4%, compared to 18.6% in Germany, 27.5% in Canada, and 70% in Finland. Union membership in the private sector has fallen under 7% — levels not seen since 1932.

..... The percentage of workers belonging to a union (or "density") in the United States peaked in 1954 at almost 35% and the total number of union members peaked in 1979 at an estimated 21.0 million.

Labor unions in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR!

Our conservative "friends" are quick to remind us of America's "golden age" after WW2 - that period when the US was the undisputed leader in the free world, its citizens attended Church regularly, nobody had heard of gay marriage, "backstreet" abortions were the only ones available and good paying jobs were plentiful.

What they conveniently fail to mention is that it was during that properous period that union membership in America's private sector peaked at 35% in 1954.

Since those "good old days," America has lost much of its economic prowess, Christian "values" have "gone to hell in a handbasket," gay marriage is now recognized in some states, Roe v Wade legalized abortion and good paying jobs are anything but plentiful.

"Big labor" which has been "demonized" by business and the political "right" for decades, has also dramatically declined by 2010 to a mere 7% of US workers in the private sector!

So just when should we expect to reap all these promised benefits that conservatives assured the American public would be ushered in after the introduction of government tax cuts and the demise of organized labor?

 

[LionofJudahDK]

Of COURSE they did!

They actually did.....no sarcasm necessary.

 

[[serious]]

These few striking workers caused thousands of others who were willing to work to lose their jobs

I thought making a product people no longer wanted was what killed them.

Well, that and years of mismanagement.

 

[mathetes123]

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR!

Our conservative "friends" are quick to remind us of America's "golden age" after WW2 - that period when the US was the undisputed leader in the free world, its citizens attended Church regularly, nobody had heard of gay marriage, "backstreet" abortions were the only ones available and good paying jobs were plentiful.

What they conveniently fail to mention is that it was during that properous period that union membership in America's private sector peaked at 35% in 1954.

Since those "good old days," America has lost much of its economic prowess, Christian "values" have "gone to hell in a handbasket," gay marriage is now recognized in some states, Roe v Wade legalized abortion and good paying jobs are anything but plentiful.

"Big labor" which has been "demonized" by business and the political "right" for decades, has also dramatically declined by 2010 to a mere 7% of US workers in the private sector!

So just when should we expect to reap all these promised benefits that conservatives assured the American public would be ushered in after the introduction of government tax cuts and the demise of organized labor?

You assume union membership is the only factor in play here. Look at the size and growth of government in this same time period.

 

[SharonL]

back in the day, you could be denied unemployment benefits for causing your own unemployment as these workers did. Can't say if that's changed or not.

Where I worked there was a gal that wanted her 2 year vacation on unemployment - she made up some unbelievable excuse as to why she quit - my boss was in real estate and was doing business with a person getting out of prison - she said she felt threatened by this person and quit - my boss fought it and sent copies of the correspondence from the gentleman and there was nothing there that was threatening and she was denied the unemployment. So they still do enforce this.

 

[true2theword]

The major flaw, contained right in the title, is thinking of the workers as one thing and the union as another thing. The workers ARE the union. The workers voted, and rejected the contract. This isn't the union doing something to the workers, this was the workers saying "Our labor costs more than that, if that's what you're offering, then we aren't selling our labor." That's capitalism in action. This company wasn't able - whether due to market forces or bad management or whatever - to survive in the market and so they failed. Capitalism isn't a one way street where owners are the only ones who get negotiating power, and the sales side isn't the only place competition occurs.

and so you think that Hostess was unable to make a profit, paying more to its workers and less to its share holders.............ha ha ha Its really laughable.............the truth is no business wants to have its employees making demands on it, as if they were in control, Its simply a way to get rid of a union


If I owned a business I wouldn't want people dictating to me what I pay and what I do with my own company, if people don't like the wage or the job work somewhere eles, thats what freedom is all about

 

[MachZer0]

I thought making a product people no longer wanted was what killed them.

Well, that and years of mismanagement.

The product they make is not in as high demand as it once was, that's true. However, when the workers are making a product in lower demand during a time when the economy is down, they can't expect to have their wages increased and in this case for their wages to remain at the same level. When they go on strike while the company is in bankruptcy, refusing to accept the fact that their services are no longer in demand at the previous level, and they are notified that failure to return to work will result in liquidation of the company, then by refusing to work, they cut their own throats and are not deserving of government assistance in the form of unemployment benefits.