On 11/17/2012 14:29, Matt Munson -> All wrote:   
      
    MM>     Hello everybody!   
      
    MM>  From the WSJ comments section - long, but worth the read:   
      
    MM> 12:10 am November 13, 2012   
    MM> St Louis wrote :   
      
    MM> Unions are not what is wrong with Hostess. Management is what is wrong.   
    MM> My husband has worked for WonderBread for 13 years. Explain to me how 4   
    MM> mgrs for 5 employees makes sense? Tell me how the company goes into   
    MM> bankruptcy but can pay someone $1 million to "fix" the company. Those   
    MM> that are not involved with the company can say anything. Its always the   
    MM> Unions fault. If you only knew what was really going on within that   
    MM> company.This statement is exactly what has happened. St Louis has been   
    MM> rumored to close for at least 3 yrs now. I would like to see you go to   
    MM> work tomorrow and say OK to any paycut. At some point you have to stick   
    MM> up for yourself.   
      
    MM> I am a Hostess employee. Hostess stopped our pension contributions a yr   
    MM> & a half ago. Then they gave the top execs pay raises of 30-80%. They   
    MM> offered new contracts: no pension payments (no retirement plan at all   
    MM> for union employees, but company management still gets contributions to   
    MM> their retirement plans) for another 2 & 1/2 yrs, and then a 75%   
    MM> reduction in pension when they do start paying into it again; we have to   
    MM> pay an ADDITIONAL $200/ mo for health insurance; They took away our last   
    MM> cost of living raise; they gave us an 8% wage cut on top of that; they   
    MM> are outsourcing all of the office work to Manilla; they are closing 12   
    MM> plants. THIS WAS ALL PART OF THE CONTRACT THAT WENT INTO EFFECT LAST   
    MM> MONTH!!   
      
    MM> The 3 bakery closures were not due to the labor strike, they were   
    MM> locations on the closure list. Hostess used the opportunity provided by   
    MM> the strike to close them w/o having to pay severance or give notice.   
    MM> Hostess will be closing more plants whether the strike is resolved or   
    MM> not. We were told that if both major unions did not accept the new   
    MM> contracts, Hostess would IMMEDIATELY liquidate and we would all lose our   
    MM> jobs. Teamsters accepted (barely), Bakers did not. Hostess didnt   
    MM> liquidate. We were told that if there was any kind of a strike, Hostess   
    MM> would IMMEDIATELY liquidate & we would lose our jobs. Bakers went on   
    MM> strike, Hostess didnt liquidate. The Seattle bakery was literally 100   
    MM> years old. They have been talking about closing it for years. Of the 3   
    MM> plants closed- the only one on official strike was Seattle. St. Louis &   
    MM> Cincinnati were not on strike.   
      
    MM> Its frustrating for Hostess employees working their butts off and taking   
    MM> all these cuts, to still see Management driving luxury rental cars,   
    MM> flying all over the county at $1,000/ ticket, having meetings in Vegas,   
    MM> spending $200/ night on hotels, $75 on ONE meal for ONE person, golf   
    MM> tournaments at $1,000/ea, throwing away MASSIVE amounts of product   
    MM> because they dont do their jobs right, the list goes on.   
      
    MM> We keep taking cuts and they keep wasting money. We took cuts a few yrs   
    MM> ago (during the LAST bankruptcy) and the money was supposed to be used   
    MM> to update equipment, facilities, 50 yr old route trucks; new product   
    MM> development, etc. None of that ever happened. They wasted the money and   
    MM> then came back to us for more. Where are their cuts and sacrifices? I   
    MM> wish people out there would realize whats going on. 6 CEOs in the past   
    MM> few yrs?? Doesnt anyone see whats wrong w/ this picture? Theres no one   
    MM> there anymore who truly cares about this company. Its nobodys baby.   
    MM> Nobody w/ the power to make decisions loves it. They just care about the   
    MM> money. Its heartbreaking. I dont blame any of the employees for finally   
    MM> saying theyve had enough.   
    MM> [blogs.wsj.com]   
      
      
      
   It must really piss you off that you are not smart enough be management.   
   You must think it's better to loose all the workers jobs just to prove a point.   
      
   Maybe Obama will help you find a job. Call him.   
      
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