Requiem for a Twinkie (Open Thread)

© Miri WTPOTUS November 16, 2012

Thanks to greedy union members, 18,500 employees of Hostess will now be out of work.   We the People might have to say goodbye to those delicious treats that so many of us have learned to love.

Gone will be Twinkies. Gone will be Hostess cupcakes.

No more Ding Dongs.  No more Ho Hos.

Gone, too, will be Wonder Bread, the bread that most of us grew up eating.

How’s that Obamanation working out for you, people?  This is merely one sign of things yet to come.

Surely there will be joy in places like New York City, where Mayor Bloomberg despises sugar.  Also in Washington DC, where the First Lady is engaged in her own war on sweets.

More dependent unemployed Americans?  What’s not to like?

Read it and weep for the passing of the Twinkie [emphasis added]:

The Irving, Texas, company said a nationwide worker strike crippled its ability to make and deliver its products. Its brands also include Ding Dongs, Ho Ho’s and Dolly Madison.

Hostess had warned employees that it would file a motion in U.S. Bankruptcy Court to unwind its business and sell assets if plant operations didn’t return to normal levels by Thursday evening. The privately held company filed for Chapter 11 protection in January, its second trip through bankruptcy court in less than a decade.

“Many people have worked incredibly long and hard to keep this from happening, but now Hostess Brands has no other alternative than to begin the process of winding down and preparing for the sale of our iconic brands,” CEO Gregory F. Rayburn said in a letter to employees posted on the company website.

He added that all employees will eventually lose their jobs, “some sooner than others.”

Thousands of members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union went on strike last week after rejecting in September a contract offer that cut wages and benefits. Hostess had already reached a contract agreement with its largest union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

Even though many of these union workers probably voted for Obama, they don’t seem to believe very much in collectivism.  Otherwise, they’d have given some consideration to their fellow employees who now are out of work.  They chose instead to “get theirs” (to try to get blood out of a stone).  Their gamble has cost thousands of their fellow employees their jobs, and now their families will suffer, as will the families of those who work in supporting industries, such as trucking or retail.  It’s a cascading tragedy.

As Europe explodes in protest because of similar necessary austerity measures (their experiment in socialism has been a massive failure), union members here still seem to believe that there’s a never-ending spigot of money, if only they can force those evil overseers to share their wealth.

It’s really simple: No capitalism? No profit? Then:  NO JOBS.

No wealth TO share.

Listen! Do you hear it?

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Photo source: Image by Larry D. Moore, used under a Creative Commons ShareAlike License.