You’ve, no doubt, heard about the “Twinkies” dilemma? Without concessions from the unions representing the workers who make and deliver “Twinkies”, the company is going to shut down.
Numerous articles, press releases and TV news clips have appeared – the majority of which lay the blame on the greedy unions.
Here are a few you may want to read to get background perspective:
- Digesting the lessons of Hostess Twinkies – Staten Island Advance
- Bittersweet question: Is Hostess management or union getting just desserts? – Chicago Tribune
- Hostess mediation fails, so Twinkies company to liquidate – USA Today
In today’s Lancaster Intelligencer Journal/New Era, decidedly, pro-corporate, right wing Republican Washington Post syndicated columnist, George Will, wants to place blame on older people and unions in “Digesting the lessons of Twinkies.”
Like him or not, Lancaster Sunday News writer, Gil Smart has written a Paul Harvey-like “rest of the story” that presents another viewpoint worth considering. We think Smart’s column which appeared in yesterday’s Sunday News tells a side of the story that you may not have known about before reading it.
We think it’s worth your time to read “Busted down to serfdom.”
“Boy, those greedy unions, I tell you.
“Can you believe how they pushed Hostess Brands, makers of the iconic Twinkie, into liquidation? All because the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union wouldn’t agree to wage cuts. And because union workers are totally overpaid — right? — the bakers should have sucked it up, saved the company, and their own jobs.
“This has been the prevailing narrative over the past few weeks. This narrative is wrong.
“Understand, the union’s refusal to make concessions did indeed force management’s hand, and some 18,550 jobs will now be lost as a result.
“Was that greedy and reckless? Or was it understandable, even justifiable?
“Hostess was in bankruptcy before, from 2004 to 2009. It emerged, in part, due to union concessions on wages and health care costs. The company closed bakeries and shed 10,000 jobs. But it wasn’t enough, and earlier this year the company re-entered bankruptcy, demanding more concessions.
“It sought an immediate 8 percent wage cut, with ultimate cuts between 27 and 32 percent. It wanted to hike employee health care costs by 17 percent, close more bakeries and eliminate the eight-hour day, meaning no overtime. It wanted to slash pension fund contributions by 75 percent.
“As David Kaplan wrote in Forbes in July, ‘What the hedge funds want is some degree of capitulation from a union whose members will otherwise lose thousands of jobs in liquidation. If the hedge funds don’t get it, they’ve concluded, the company isn’t worth saving.’
“Sounds like a hostage situation to me.
“The average salary of a Hostess employee is $43,000. Meanwhile, earlier this year, the company asked a bankruptcy judge for permission to hike then-CEO Brian Driscoll’s pay from $750,000 to $1.5 million annually, with up to $2 million in other incentives. At least nine other executives got raises between 35 and 80 percent.
“Then last week came news that the company wants to pay $1.75 million in bonuses to 19 executives.” To read this opinion in its entirety at the Lancaster Sunday News Website, click here.
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