Do you want that job or don't you - Hostess reopens as a non-union shop
From
ABC News:
Hostess Reopening Plants, Without Union Workers
The bankrupt assets of Hostess Brands, Inc., the company responsible for Twinkies, Ho Ho's, Sno Balls and Ding Dongs, are being put back to work by a buyout firm. What's not being put back to work are the former Hostess unionized employees.
The unionized workers had been on strike when the company folded late last year.
The company had imposed a contract that would cut its 19,000 workers' wages � 15,000 of whom belonged to the workers from the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers & Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) � by 8 percent. (The Teamsters was Hostess' largest union, followed by BCTGM.) The contract would have also cut benefits by 27 to 32 percent.
Hostess filed for Chapter 11 in January 2012. In November 2012, the company announced it would be shutting its doors for good. By that time, it had lost about $1.1 billion, largely due to bankruptcy filings.
But last month Apollo Global Management, LLC, and Metropoulos & Co., which owns Pabst Blue Ribbon and Vlasic pickles, bought the 83-year-old company for $410 million, renaming it Hostess Brands LLC. It is planning to re-open four bakeries over the next two and a half months, in Columbus, Ga.; Emporia, Kan.; Schiller Park, Ill.; and Indianapolis. It is also contemplating a fifth in Los Angeles.
I do feel sorry for the workers who lost their jobs. I have no beef with them. My complaint is with the union management. Hostess opened their books -- all but one union saw that they were having a tough financial time and agreed to the pay and benefit cuts. One union did not and went on strike so the entire unionized workforce had to follow suit. End of company.
Unions very much did have their place in America but the days of the Company Town have passed. When you cannot find a working wage, you now have the ability to move (North Dakota is a prime example). The unions have not brought themselves up to date. Look at Detroit as a prime example of the fallout. Unions represent about 8% of our workforce -- there is a very good reason for that...
Posted by DaveH at April 27, 2013 11:13 PM