Bye bye Twinkies. Union to blame?

[mzimme]

Surely with unemployment above 8% there are people that could fill those 18,500 jobs...

From what I understand, the union workers were looking for somewhere between a 10-15% increase in wages every year built into the contracts. That's a bit excessive considering the state of the economy right now.

[Rossterman]

Also have to look at the big picture as to hostess' revenues. In the current day, you have to anticipate what the market wants and continue to adjust. My guess is that like blockbuster video and some others, they weren't keeping pace with the market. As said above, "I have a twinkie once or twice a year". I imagine the demand for processed cakes filled with sugar laden fillings is probably much smaller than when I was a kid (my favorite was snowballs- loved the coconut!) and many like me, haven't bought too many of their products over the years. Couple this with higher labor costs, and at some point you might as well call it quits.

[mikeg205]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeS6DvyLScE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1vYj0E2Hr0

[JimN]

Originally Posted by jdl xstar

Hmmm.. stockpiling twinkies... Their shelf life is probably in the years so this may be a good idea. Or sell on ebay.

I thought it was determined that they have a half-life, not shelf-life.

[ski_king]

I haven’t had a Twinkie in over 20 years. This thread prompted me to get one out of the vending machine as it may be my last chance.

Now I remember why I haven’t had one in 20 years.

But since they have an infinite shelf life, I was counting on them for the zombie apocalypse.

[JimN]

I'm concerned more about the hit to the venders and companies that provided services to Hostess, as well as to the employees. The loss to the whole chain will be extensive. 18.5K who will no longer buy as much gas, food, electronics, clothing, cars/trucks or anything else. OTOH, if the unemployed have great benefits and are vested in their pension, some will probably retire but they could have avoided this- better to take a bit of a hit than lose the job if it means the company stays in business, IMO.

When the mantra becomes "More for me! More for me!", the chance of a company's survival becomes smaller and smaller.

[mikeg205]

Just remember u can suck out the insides with a straw....lol

[mzimme]

Originally Posted by ski_king

I haven’t had a Twinkie in over 20 years. This thread prompted me to get one out of the vending machine as it may be my last chance.

Now I remember why I haven’t had one in 20 years.

But since they have an infinite shelf life, I was counting on them for the zombie apocalypse.

Have you SEEN zombieland???

[mzimme]

Originally Posted by JimN

I'm concerned more about the hit to the venders and companies that provided services to Hostess, as well as to the employees. The loss to the whole chain will be extensive. 18.5K who will no longer buy as much gas, food, electronics, clothing, cars/trucks or anything else. OTOH, if the unemployed have great benefits and are vested in their pension, some will probably retire but they could have avoided this- better to take a bit of a hit than lose the job if it means the company stays in business, IMO.

When the mantra becomes "More for me! More for me!", the chance of a company's survival becomes smaller and smaller.

I'm sure the CEO's were paying themselves healthily through this whole downturn process as well. Actually I think I saw an article pointing out that "it was reported" (whatever that means) that the execs were boosting their share by 80% while not wanting to pay the labor unions more. Who knows...

Maybe Bane Capital needs to step in.

[jdl xstar]

Originally Posted by JimN

I thought it was determined that they have a half-life, not shelf-life.

Ha! Clever!