Thread: Twinkie for your thoughts

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Looks like the company is now gone,18.5 K people out of work.
Unions are truly great things doncha think

On balance, yes I do.

They are far from perfect and sometimes do cut off the nose to spite the face. But consider working conditions before unions and working conditions after unions. Without unions (or associations or whatever you want to call a particular collective bargaining unit) workers in most of the western world worked in horrible, dangerous conditions, often for unimaginably long shifts 6-7 days a week. If you work a standard 40-hour week, if you don't see kids being sent into mines or mills to die on the job, if you aren't shackled to a company store and have the freedom to live your life as you wish off the job, then you owe at the very least a nod to what unions have done for you. None of these rights were freely given by benevolent owners. They were fought for and in many cases died for by unions and union members.

Don't get me wrong - I am not saying that Unions do not have their own problems and that they don't sometimes make errors in judgement. But I am saying that directly or indirectly, we have all benefited from what they have achieved over the years.

And frankly I don't know enough about this particular dispute to have the first clue where to place the blame. Mgmt blames the union. The union blames mgmt. No surprise there. But I have also heard (again, don't know enough to judge the source) that the company was badly run and heading to bankruptcy anyway, and the latest mgmt demands were simply intended to squeeze as much as they could from the workers before shutting it down anyway.

I'm hoping for a govenment bailout. Although, Little Debbie is a less expensive alternative.

Things like an 8 hour day, 40 hour week and medical benefits ..... pensions, now largely a thing of the past, are what union men fought and died for ..... literally. When the Empire State Building went up in 1930 or so it was figured that on the average skyscraper you would lose a man per floor. IOW, lose as in dead.

75/100 yrs ago unions were great things.In todays world and economy,any work is good work.Just ask the 18.5K people that now have no work in a couple mos.
Esp around the holidays.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

75/100 yrs ago unions were great things.In todays world and economy,any work is good work.Just ask the 18.5K people that now have no work in a couple mos.
Esp around the holidays.

I think there are far more examples of unions that work constructively with their employers not only to improve wages and conditions but also to ensure security, than there are short-sighted ones that shoot themselves in the foot.

Do we yet know the real reasons why those folks are out of work? The assumption being made by a lot of folks is that the union is 100% to blame. I somehow doubt it is a clear-cut as that.

With the federal laws that are in place today governing child labor,hrs worked,work place saftey (OSHA),the need for unions is a mute point.
Trust me, I would bet thier are 100K workers that would have gone to work making twinkies for no benifits and less pay.

Pixelfixed, that presumes employers willingly obey such laws. And not every employee is aware of such protections. A little ignorance goes a long way.

ya'll can Twit about Twinkies On Twitter

Oh man! I hate those things... but now that they are gone... I wants!! Why? I'll never know. I just wants me one!!


The whole anti union sentiment thing is something I find hilarious. People always bemoan how they want good paying jobs in America. In the manufacturing sector, what people are saying, even if they know it or not is, they want union paying jobs... but when these things happen... we all hate unions. ??

The truth of the matter is, if it wasn't for unions, we here in America would never have achieved the standard of living that we have! If you don't believe me - read a little history.

But yes - the unions had to become as tough as the street - and we all know how ruthless the street is. Good? Bad? I don't know. What I do know is that ultimately the street has won. With outsourcing and all the negative campaigns... well, don't expect the standard of living for your kids in America to go up any time soon.



Anyway... back to the topic at hand - Twinkies! Fear not! Someone will buy the name... and a plant in China... You'll have your Twinkies again.

I've always been partial to their cupcakes...and HoHo's.