You make it sound like it's the union boss's fault. FWIW, no strike, NONE, ever occurs without a vote from membership. A union represent's the wishes of the workers and it's the workers who decide what those wishes are.

If there's any blame here, it lays squarely on the CEO and upper management, just as they get credit when their business does well.

ADDED IN EDIT: Oops, should've stressed that last sentence was just my opinion, though I suppose that's obvious.. It's just in my opinion if CEO's want to claim credit when their business does well (and they do) then they get the blame when it doesn't.

Laughable. But that not withstanding... Very little of the workforce is actually union. However, since the union wont take an 8% pay cut (whatever, I wouldnt want to take it either, not the point) everyone is out of job. So in the end, the Union Bosses represent a tiny portion of the workforce but have penalized them all. Is there blame on both sides? Sure. but there was a refused offer on the table, instead nobody goes to work Monday. Happy Thanksgiving!

Right, there was an offer on the table, and the worker's get a vote on whether to ratify the offer or continue to strike. At some point that vote took place and more voted to strike than not to.

ADDED IN EDIT: "The BCTGM union took multiple concessions in the first bankruptcy, and offered multiple concessions (I’d tell you exactly what they are but apparently they’re having bandwidth issues at their site today) on wages and benefits this time around. But the contract the company tried to unilaterally impose was so bad, with a 27-32% wage cut and benefit slashes and the elimination of the eight-hour workday, that 92% of workers rejected it." http://news.firedoglake.com/2012/11/16/death-by-twinkie-what-the-hostess-liquidation-says-about-labor-and-the-economy/

The vote was 92 to 8%.

The problem seems that they had already taken a previous pay cut, and the management gave themselves a pretty large pay raise. It's the kind of thing that muddies the water in a negotiation. They were stubborn, probably too stubborn, but you can't lay this all at the union's feet.

I don't think I've ever eaten a Twinkie.

Let yourself be victimized because if you don't, something even worse might happen!

You are not missing out.

Looks like I'll be picking up a box in the near future, such a shame :(

And I have not. I am happy to place blame all over the place. Quite clearly I pointed that the workers are the ones who will pay the price here. Not Management or Union. And the teamsters union for example ratified the offer. Only the bakers union denied it at the 92% because they are already low paid.

EDIT: Even the other unions know what sunk this... http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/16/news/companies/hostess-closing/index.html?source=yahoo_hosted

This is a damn shame. I haven't had a twinkie in years, but it is still sad to see them go.

I was thinking the other day about getting some of their cupcakes again.

Maybe if I hurry I can hoard some to sell off later since they are supposed to be strong enough to survive a nuclear war.

Americans are eating healthier now. It fucking sucks because it means the death of so many delicious junk food. Nowadays, it seems the America, I know and love, only exists in the South where people fortunately still don't give a shit about eating healthy.

I don't even know what a Twinkie is even though I've seen Zombieland. Hollywood lie all the time so why not lie about Twinkies? ;)

Edit:

Again I've not yet read the link but How else do you think workers can realistically make their voice heard?

This was my reaction exactly ;(

I need a cadbury mini roll 35 feet long!!

I understand that folks always get up in arms about anything involving unions one way or another, but this was hardly a pure union issue. First off, most of the Hostess products are gross. Even the few that aren't almost completely synthetic are still loaded down with excessive preservatives (to the point where you can taste them). Their stuff has been an icon of the fattening of America for decades now, as well as a perfect foil for the organic food movement. Secondly, when's the last time you even SAW a Hostess advertisement, much less a new product? The linked article lists a half-dozen reasons that could bankrupt a company by themselves, and all together can be quite final.

Even if by some chance nobody starts making Twinkies again, rest assured that the ones that have already been produced won't go bad... ever.

There needs to be an investigation concerning the bakers' union leadership. This might be the same union that was responsible for the demise of several smaller baked goods companies years ago including one based in central Pennsylvania called the Yoch Bakery Company. The union leadership had made a deal years ago with larger companies to crush the smaller ones by inducing strikes and making demands that only the larger competitors could afford.

That being said, I would not be surprised if the union leaders collaborated with Hostess's rivals. There needs to be an investigation.

This is one of the reasons why I feel that any unionization and collective bargaining should only get done on a local and voluntary basis (private sector only of course while public sector unions can go to hell).

Now I need to find a way to stock up on those chocolate-filled twinkies if they still have them at the grocery store.