Question of the week: Do you blame the Hostess unions for the company’s demise?
Richard Place: “The question should be “How much would you pay for a HOHO. Profit is the result of the sales price and cost of doing business. The Unions had negotiated a position on the Board and should have put the future of their members first. A job at the same pay or a little less is better than no job at all.”
Louise Ledesma: “No, Hostess went through bankruptcy twice and the workers had agreed to concessions earlier while the CEO and top executives received raises. The company should have learned from past problems to restructure or to develop healthy products. Now they are paying $1.75 million in bonuses to 19 executives.”
Ruth Erickson: “Though the other unions had compromised, the Baker’s Union representing 30 percent of the 18,000 workers, could not reach an agreement through mediation. Hostess had been having years of mismanagement problems, so its ultimate demise was probably inevitable! On a positive note, the popular Hostess products have over 100 companies in talks about purchasing parts of, or the whole company.”
Mary Zanger: “No, I am clearly surprised that retro products such as Ding Dongs, Ho Hos and Twinkies have stayed on the market so long. With consumer trends of eating healthy and nutritious I would expect new products like Hi Protein Ho Hos, Antioxidant Ding Dongs and whole grain Twinkies with Fiber-luscious filling. One would be living in a bubble to not see the constant flow of new products into consumerism. This Hostess demise is clearly in the laps of management. How sad to see a bonus for management while nothing for employees who may become creditors with the company owing them money. How sad to lose a job and a pension which is really deferred wages.”
Are you interested in joining the Around the Water Cooler panel? If so, email Editor Kollin Kosmicki at [email protected].
