Hostess is Toast

[nephthys43]

just my 2 cents... i haven't eaten a twinkie since probably 1984 or so. i don't like them. But my fruit pies!!! i'll miss them sooooo much!

 

[cornflake]

Sara Lee bakes Walmarts rip off Twinkies. And they are unionized.

Yeah but to buy them you'd have to shop at Walmart, which the term anti-union doesn't even begin to cover.

I look at how things have changed in my mom's lifetime, she's 89, and I kind of think maybe the western world needs to reset it's priorities.

My mom grew up on a farm with no running water, no electricity, no telephone. My Grandfather actually used a horse to pull a plow and pull a combine to harvest his wheat crop. No tractors. They had a cow for milk, chickens for eggs, a vegetable garden than my Grandmother canned the vegetables from to eat in the winter, and bought only the things they couldn't grow or make themselves. They had everything they needed to survive.

Now, most Westerners expect to have a big screen TV, central heat and air, a nice car, a smart phone, and I know a few that actually can not cook and buy every meal prepared for them.....and few others that send all their laundry out rather than wash it themselves.

Again, I think this is geography more than chronology.

There are still people that live like this, or close to this.

My grandma, older than that, didn't grow up or live anything like that. The only things she ever grew were decorative potted plants. Never canned a thing. Sent her laundry out all the time, etc.

Yes, life and technology changes but this idyllic farmy life is specific to place more than time and I don't think it's at all reflective of values, but just of happenstance of lifestyle.

 

[mefordis]

just my 2 cents... i haven't eaten a twinkie since probably 1984 or so. i don't like them. But my fruit pies!!! i'll miss them sooooo much!

I used to love them, too. Haven't had one in years. I might try this recipe sometime, though:

http://www.thecookingphotographer.com/2010/04/copycat-hostess-blackberry-fruit-pie.html

 

[tvguy]

Yeah but to buy them you'd have to shop at Walmart, which the term anti-union doesn't even begin to cover.
.

As a West coaster, Walmart is a relatively new option in my life. I go into a Walmart, I go into a clean, well lit store, and there are employees on every aisle working, and if I look confused they ask if they can help. They look happy to be there. When I go to the biggest chain in the area, which is the only store still ahead of Walmart in total sales here, I go into a dirty, dark store and I see unhappy employees.
Walmart has been a godsend to the unemployed here, especially those with disabilities.
As my wife nephew discovered after 10 years at Walmart, he quit and moved to a union job in a chain, Walmart pays less per hour, but they reward you with profit sharing in the form of stock. His paychecks are bigger now, but at the end of the year, his total compensation is about $5,000 less.

 

[SaraJayne]

The parasites killed the HOSTess.

Without the "parasites", as you so eloquently call the backbone of this country, there would be no "HOSTess".

 

[Albort]

As a West coaster, Walmart is a relatively new option in my life. I go into a Walmart, I go into a clean, well lit store, and there are employees on every aisle working, and if I look confused they ask if they can help. They look happy to be there. When I go to the biggest chain in the area, which is the only store still ahead of Walmart in total sales here, I go into a dirty, dark store and I see unhappy employees.

not sure how busy your walmart is but SoCal Walmart sucks... I always find myself waiting in lines that have like 20 people in them. Then it comes to products, a lot of times i find the shelves empty, they only seem to restock at nights only. If i need something, i go to target... Or if im still up at 2AM, i go to walmart where its a ghost town... lol

 

[MrsPete]

Our society created a lot of jobs than have for years actually paid more than the value of the work provided by the worker. A huge issue here right now in California are public sector jobs, some that allow you to work 30 years, retire with full medical benefits and a decent pension as young as 48.

Couple comments:

You're glossing over 30 years of service to the same company as if it's nothing -- you're making three decades of work sound like welfare. I'm in a job that offers a pension after 30 years of service, and I can tell you that few people actually stay with a company for this length of time to earn such a benefit. Unless something unfortunate should happen, however, I do expect to be one of the few who reaches 30 years. I'm not alone in this: my husband turned down a job out of state because we determined together that it was better for us not to lose the years I've put into my pension (which do not cross state lines). Believe me, I have worked for every penny in a difficult-to-fill job.

I don't know how things work in CA, but my pension is funded through deductions from my paycheck. I don't get the paycheck PLUS paid retirement. The pension is something of a risk. If I should die at age 60, I will lose big-time on the pension (because unlike a 401K, I cannot leave any remaining pension to my children). If I live to be 100, the state will lose (because unlike a 401K, I can't outlive my benefit). It'll be decades 'til I know who wins in my case.

 

[MrsPete]

And you do not pay one single cent of tax or any other money for or towards any displaced worker's/workers' unemployment compensation.

Yes, you do -- even if it's not paid through taxes. The company pays its unemployment insurance through product sales. You (okay, I mean the generic you) buy the product, a portion of your money pays for the company's overhead costs. Unemployment is one of the company's costs.

 

[MrsPete]

A receiving clerk making 48K? Maybe that is part of the problem.

Yeah, that salary sounds more appropriate for the head of receiving. I imagine that a clerk is a high school graduate who just follows directions and perhaps drives a forklift.

 

[MrsPete]

I am pretty sure the collapse of Hostess is the first sign of the apocalypse.

Also aren't Isreal and Palastine reving up again?

I need to go start digging my underground bunker. Seriously I have seen the new Fantasyland, I am at peace with the world.

No, no, the Bible says that the apocalypse will begin when the Middle East is at PEACE. When the AntiChrist brings peace to the world, that's when it's all supposed to start. As long as they're fighting over there, we've gotta stay here and tough it out.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Couple comments:

You're glossing over 30 years of service to the same company as if it's nothing -- you're making three decades of work sound like welfare. I'm in a job that offers a pension after 30 years of service, and I can tell you that few people actually stay with a company for this length of time to earn such a benefit. Unless something unfortunate should happen, however, I do expect to be one of the few who reaches 30 years. I'm not alone in this: my husband turned down a job out of state because we determined together that it was better for us not to lose the years I've put into my pension (which do not cross state lines). Believe me, I have worked for every penny in a difficult-to-fill job.

It's not the 30 years of work, it's the notion of retiring & then potentially collecting benefits for more years than you worked. My grandfather's generation didn't retire in their 40's or even 50's. And their life expectancy was much lower than ours. To have someone of my generation retiring that early can be a very, very expensive proposition for an employer. General Motors has 600,000 retirees collecting benefits vs. only 80,000 full-time employees for this very reason.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Yes, you do -- even if it's not paid through taxes. The company pays its unemployment insurance through product sales. You (okay, I mean the generic you) buy the product, a portion of your money pays for the company's overhead costs. Unemployment is one of the company's costs.

I addressed that in a subsequent post - but the person at whom that response was directed was complaining about his taxes paying for unemployment, as well as social welfare services for the former Hostess employees despite a complete lack of evidence or any indication that any of these workers would need/use such services.

Other people have been laid off / had their employer go out of business without using those services. I haven't got an iota of an idea why that poster thinks these people would be different.

 

[JKMJ441724]

Guess Tennessee was right - "There's a box of Twinkies in that grocery store. Not just any box of Twinkies, the last box of Twinkies that anyone will enjoy in the whole universe. Believe it or not, Twinkies have an expiration date. Some day very soon, Life's little Twinkie gauge is gonna go empty."

This made me laugh and think of WALL-E. According that movie, Twinkies will last for a good 600 years on the shelf.

 

[cornflake]

As a West coaster, Walmart is a relatively new option in my life. I go into a Walmart, I go into a clean, well lit store, and there are employees on every aisle working, and if I look confused they ask if they can help. They look happy to be there. When I go to the biggest chain in the area, which is the only store still ahead of Walmart in total sales here, I go into a dirty, dark store and I see unhappy employees.
Walmart has been a godsend to the unemployed here, especially those with disabilities.
As my wife nephew discovered after 10 years at Walmart, he quit and moved to a union job in a chain, Walmart pays less per hour, but they reward you with profit sharing in the form of stock. His paychecks are bigger now, but at the end of the year, his total compensation is about $5,000 less.

They also reward you with close to no ability to realistically afford benefits and the bonuses of the multiple human rights violations they're repeatedly sued for perpetuating.

We don't have Walmart here (my city). If you like them that's your perogative of course, was just in general pointing out that your solution to someone trying to buy union-made goods was putting them in the position of shopping in an aggressively anti-union store, which seemed like it wouldn't accomplish to goal, to me.

 

[JKMJ441724]

.

 

[tvguy]

Couple comments:

You're glossing over 30 years of service to the same company as if it's nothing -- you're making three decades of work sound like welfare. I'm in a job that offers a pension after 30 years of service, and I can tell you that few people actually stay with a company for this length of time to earn such a benefit. Unless something unfortunate should happen, however, I do expect to be one of the few who reaches 30 years. I'm not alone in this: my husband turned down a job out of state because we determined together that it was better for us not to lose the years I've put into my pension (which do not cross state lines). Believe me, I have worked for every penny in a difficult-to-fill job.

I don't know how things work in CA, but my pension is funded through deductions from my paycheck. I don't get the paycheck PLUS paid retirement. The pension is something of a risk. If I should die at age 60, I will lose big-time on the pension (because unlike a 401K, I cannot leave any remaining pension to my children). If I live to be 100, the state will lose (because unlike a 401K, I can't outlive my benefit). It'll be decades 'til I know who wins in my case.

30 years is certainly not nothing, but it is one third less time than most folks will work. And it will likely less time than the average person will spend retired if they retire at ages 48 to 50.
The pensions I am referring to are public, and employees certainly contribute, but most of the money is put in by the employer (the state) and they are not fixed pensions, they are pensions with COLA increases, which are entirely funded by the state. I can not speak to all pensions, but many offer survivors benefits, but if you take that option, your original pension will be less per month, and the survivors benefits may be less than your full pension when you were alive.

 

[tvguy]

not sure how busy your walmart is but SoCal Walmart sucks... I always find myself waiting in lines that have like 20 people in them. Then it comes to products, a lot of times i find the shelves empty, they only seem to restock at nights only. If i need something, i go to target... Or if im still up at 2AM, i go to walmart where its a ghost town... lol

Just got back from the new Walmart Neighborhood store that opened yesterday about 2 miles from my house. Okay, the number of workers in there asking me if I needed help got down right annoying!

If I go to the Super Walmart, there will be lines, can't say I remember having more than 3 or 4 folks ahead of me. I had one person ahead of me today at the neighborhood Walmart, but then they opened a new check stand to take us.

 

[tvguy]

They also reward you with close to no ability to realistically afford benefits and the bonuses of the multiple human rights violations they're repeatedly sued for perpetuating.

We don't have Walmart here (my city). If you like them that's your perogative of course, was just in general pointing out that your solution to someone trying to buy union-made goods was putting them in the position of shopping in an aggressively anti-union store, which seemed like it wouldn't accomplish to goal, to me.

Walmart is non-union because a majority of their employees don't want union representation. Walmart certainly isn't perfect, but I think if you look at the final resolution of any human rights violations allegations, most are without merit.

 

[angwill]

OK here is a twist to add to the story. I read more than one article that stated that the CEO's all got huge raises shortly before filing for bankruptcy. Here is a quote from the huffington post

Hostess creditors accused the company in April of manipulating executive salaries with the aim of getting around bankruptcy compensation rules, the Wall Street Journal reported at the time. In response, Rayburn announced he would cut his pay and that of other executives to $1 until Dec. 31 or whenever Hostess came out of bankruptcy.

That was after Hostess had already awarded the company's top four executives raises of between 75 and 80 percent, even though the company had already hired restructuring lawyers, according to the WSJ.

The situation isn't specific to Hostess. Over the last 30 years, CEO pay grew 127 times faster than worker pay, according to a July report.

If you want a source just google Hostess CEO's salary raises.

 

[tvguy]

OK here is a twist to add to the story. I read more than one article that stated that the CEO's all got huge raises shortly before filing for bankruptcy. Here is a quote from the huffington post

Hostess creditors accused the company in April of manipulating executive salaries with the aim of getting around bankruptcy compensation rules, the Wall Street Journal reported at the time. In response, Rayburn announced he would cut his pay and that of other executives to $1 until Dec. 31 or whenever Hostess came out of bankruptcy.

That was after Hostess had already awarded the company's top four executives raises of between 75 and 80 percent, even though the company had already hired restructuring lawyers, according to the WSJ.

The situation isn't specific to Hostess. Over the last 30 years, CEO pay grew 127 times faster than worker pay, according to a July report.

If you want a source just google Hostess CEO's salary raises.

Here's a twist to your twist. The total salary was $2.5 million after the increase. If they paid him nothing, and divided the money among all 18,000 workers.......they'd get $138 each.