Union Job Killers Claim Another Victim

One of America's best known and loved snack brands appears to be headed for certain death. Hostess Brands, the 85 year old maker of such beloved snacks as Twinkies, Ding Dongs, and Wonder Bread will shut its doors after failing to reach a deal on pension and benefit cuts with its bakers union. The closing with cost more than 18,000 workers their jobs, the closing of 36 plants and further add to the country's unemployment woes. The trouble began when when the January 2012 bankruptcy allowed Hostess to force the bakers union to accept an 8% wage cut and increased health care cost for employees. A subsequent strike on November 9th resulted in tense negotiations over the new agreement . The teamsters union accepted the deal, the bakers union refused to accept any more wage cuts, giving Hostess no choice but to ask the court for permission to liquidate.

The ability of union cult members to remain unaware of their irrelevance is astonishing. Unions have killed off economic growth in most Midwestern states, which has been largely responsible for the economic boom to the non-union states of the south. Hostess' byzantine labor agreements involved over 372 separate bargaining contracts for workers, and 5,500 delivery routes. The midwest during the 50's,60's and 70's was the mecca of auto, and steel manufacturing, specifically in Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania. The ever ballooning cost of union labor and persistent strikes in our manufacturing sector has been a death nail for American competitiveness, and it is especially evident in rust belt states. Southern states such as Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina and Louisiana have benefited buy luring foreign and domestic manufacturers with less regulation, cheaper land and yes, non-union labor.

Akron Ohio, in my home state was once known as the Rubber capital of Ohio when Goodrich, Goodyear, Firestone, General Tire were all headquartered in the city. Labor strikes throughout the 60's and 70's have decimated Akron's rubber industry so much so that by the early 90's Goodyear was the only one remaining. There was certainly a time when unions were needed due to lack of competition and very little state and federal regulation of the workplace. Its no coincidence non union states continue to outpace the midwest in manufacturing job growth. Free market policies are alive and well in red state America, if only the union base would get out of their own way and allow those principles to work in the Blue states.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Legend Of The Unarmed White Man (Revised)

Image
The August 2014 shooting death of unarmed black teen Mike Brown in St. Louis by a white police officer and the subsequent decision by the grand jury not to indict has brought unrest to American Streets. The protestors feel that police are shooting and killing mostly unarmed black men at alarming rates. Many also believe that police interaction amongst white's is all together different due to the benefits of "white privilege". "If that had of been a white man..." is a common refrain from blacks when speaking of a negative experience with a white police officer. The media plays an integral role in these perceptions by continuously assaulting us with images of black victims and white perpetrators. In light of the Brown incident and other controversial shootings this year, the adjective attached to these perceived victims is "unarmed". The term is a staple in the lexicon of the American media which h...
Read more

BP Crisis Brings Out Radical Left

Image
Once again the left, with the help of Jesse Jackson shows its ignorance of and hatred for capitalism. The BP crisis which began with the explosion of an offshore oil rig which resulted in a fire that killed 19 people. The pipe located one mile undersea began to spew oil into the gulf and has for over fifty days now. The Reverend has been for weeks calling for a boycott of BP. Now comes word that several BP stations have been vandalized. The fact that such vitriol and anger results from what was clearly a tragic accident is surely tragic in itself. Someone should explain to the reverend that oil companies exited the gas station business years ago. The stations are by and large owned by franchisees and independent operators who squeeze out razor thin margins on gasoline-hence the reason for the lottery tickets, potato chips and soft drinks that has become a staple of these often family owned businesses. To make matters worse, the Rev. Jackson stated that "the mom and pop stations a...
Read more

Blacks Only Field Trip Revealing

A Michigan elementary school Principal took group of 5th grade students on a field trip to hear a speech by an African American rocket scientist. The only problem: he only took the black students. This incident for this blogger has much larger revelations other than the obvious. This Principal is the prototypical example of the dangers of a left wing education. A huge problem among blacks specifically is their ability to practice discrimination and segregation while simultaneously preaching "equality" and "inclusion". Dicken Elementary School Mike Madison took a group on black students, part of a group known as the African American Lunch Bunch to hear a black rocket scientist speak. The fact that there is such a group at a such a racially diverse school is troubling. Needless to say, the outrage would be manic if a white organization existed and engaged in the same exclusion of black students. In the black left wing mind, discrimination and racism are acceptable ...
Read more