Archie Bunker’s lunchbox just got a little lighter.
18,500 workers at Hostess bakeries across the country are out of jobs today thanks to the union that was supposed to protect them.
The company that brought us such iconic brands such as Twinkies, Hostess Cupcakes and Wonder Bread was forced to shut down and enter bankruptcy after the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) initiated a nationwide strike. Unable to produce and deliver product Hostess warned the union that if workers did not return to work by 5pm Thursday, the company would be shut down and sold.
Hostess was not in the healthiest of financial conditions when it asked it unionized members to agree to concessions to keep the ovens lit and the cupcakes on the shelves. But instead of agreeing to take some wage and benefit cuts, workers took the advice of their union leaders and took to the picket line.
Today, those workers who turned raw ingredients into baked goods that we grew up with and salivated over, don’t have a production line to work or a picket line to walk. While millions are unemployed, the union representatives who claim to protect jobs and worker’s rights played chicken, hoping Hostess wouldn’t follow through with their threat of a shutdown.
The deadline came and went and with no compromise coming, the finger pointing began shortly after the shutdown notice hit the news. Hostess blames the union while the BCTGM and the Teamsters Union blames the company’s “mismanagement.”
I was never a supporter of unions and after today my opinion of them can’t be any lower.
There is nobody more responsible for the closure of Hostess and the loss of 18,500 jobs than the BCTGM. I’m sure there were many Hostess employees who were willing to accept the concessions in order to keep their jobs and stay employed instead of becoming a statistic.
I hope that the unions who didn’t protect their members are going to be there for them now with financial aid, health coverage and whatever else they need to feed, clothe and care for their families as these job losses were unnecessary.
Why the BCTGM felt their members would be better off without a job over having a job with some pay and benefit cuts is beyond my comprehension.
It’s irresponsible.
It’s unacceptable.
Tuning into talk radio today I’m hearing the blame laid on Hostess, the unions, Mitt Romney, Barack Obama, the Republicans, the Democrats, the so-called “financial cliff” and even Bain Capital. The finger pointing will continue and everyone is going to try to escape blame by making even the strangest bedfellows seem responsible.
As the company prepares to sell off equipment and the various brand and trade names, I’m sure we’ve haven’t seen the last of the Twinkie. Some company will buy the formula, the brand name and will continue on baking the cream filled cakes – probably in China.
What a win for the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union and the “venerable” Teamsters.
Congratulations!
Now go hang your heads in shame.