Moe Lane

That was my immediate response to this:

I wonder what the House Republicans could learn from the Hostess example.

— Ben Domenech (@bdomenech) November 19, 2012

…which is itself a response to the news that Hostess has gotten the bakers union to come back to mediation; and make no mistake, the union has caved.  The judge in today’s decision visibly wondered what on Earth the union was thinking when they called the strike, and gently pointed out that said union could in fact be sued for an illegal strike.  That, coupled with the news that other companies were eager to buy the brands – but explicitly not the plants and union contracts – apparently made folks thoughtful.

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Big Labor has killed the goose that laid the golden sponge cake:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Hostess Brands — the maker of such iconic baked goods as Twinkies, Devil Dogs and Wonder Bread — announced Friday that it is asking a federal bankruptcy court for permission to close its operations, blaming a strike by bakers protesting a new contract imposed on them.

The closing will result in Hostess’ nearly 18,500 workers losing their jobs as the company shuts 33 bakeries and 565 distribution centers nationwide. The bakers’ union represents around 5,000.

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Very possibly.  Background here and here: the short version is that Hostess Foods is in horrible financial shape; it’s in the process of trying to stave off bankruptcy via drastically renegotiated emergency union contracts with the Teamsters and bakers’ unions; the Teamsters took a look at the books, blanched, swallowed hard, and took the deal; the bakers’ unions did not, and decided to go on strike; and Hostess basically told the strikers that if they didn’t stop striking by end of business today that the company would just go ahead and shut down.  The end of business came and went; and now we’re going to see whether Hostess will go through with their promise/threat.

And how serious is this threat? This serious:

The Teamsters meanwhile are urging the smaller union to hold a secret ballot on whether to continue striking. Citing its financial experts who had access to the company’s books, the Teamsters say that Hostess’ warning of liquidation is “not an empty threat or a negotiating tactic” but a certain outcome if workers continue striking.

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In some ways, this frame from Cracked.com’s 6 Insane Batman Comics Courtesy of Tasty Hostess Cupcakes says it all.  Or about Hostess Cupcakes, and the intersection of them with superhero comics in a time where everybody was desperate to get the consumer economy revving up faster.

Sweet God, but the pre-Reagan era purely sucked.