20,000 people will soon be out of work because....
1. The Unions in this country think they can hold business owners hostage and call their bluff. In most cases this is true, but not in this one. Workers were told to be at work yesterday or Hostess was closing their doors. They didn't show, and the doors shut. You see, 'rich' folk can take their money and run, leaving the 'unrich' folk left holding the empty paycheck bag. The more socialist minded in this country think that's a bad thing. The more capitalist minded in this country think extortion is a bad thing. That's really what unions have become over the last thirty to forty years...organized extortion. Yes, ALL unions.
2. The union representing the Hostess workers failed to recognize during their negotiations that Hostess management was more than willing to oust the union than to continue doing business. I would really like to hear from someone who accepted a job offer without being told how much they would be paid, what kind of benefits they would receive, what position they would be assuming, and how many hours they would be expected to work. It always chaps my ass when someone takes a job at a company I work at and two weeks later starts bitching about the pay. You see, I don't know of that happening anywhere in the country where a legitimate business, like Hostess, is concerned. During negotiations, if union representatives REALLY have the best interests of their members at heart, they should be able to realize when they have squeezed as much blood out of the turnip as they are going to get and end the strike. But, union bosses don't care about their members. What they care about is the same thing that insurance companies care about. Insurance companies don't believe in paying out claims. They only believe in receiving premiums. Union bosses don't care about whether their people have a job, they only care about collecting dues. They never believed for one nanosecond that Hostess would close down. It goes against capitalist logic. I applaud them with all my soul for having the guts to do it. So, while the Fat Cat union muckety-mucks sit up in their ivory towers looking down on their ignorant peasants, the peasants are shown the door by the evil old capitalist businessmen.
No matter how you slice it, 20,000 people are out of work because they refused an order from their employer to return to their jobs at a specified time. They were free not to. The company was free to close down. What will now happen is that the company will reorganize, move to another location with their assets, open up under a different name, tweak their recipes just enough so they can't be sued, and keep on making money with non-union workers who will be more than happy to have a job. The 20,000 that are out of work will look toward Washington with their hands out. And, Washington will be glad. They just picked up 20,000 more votes.
The rest of us will just have to live without Twinkies for a while.