Union Madness

The tale of the Hostess Baking Co. bankruptcy is a classic example of what has gone wrong with unions. Originally formed to address a very real problem - outrageous exploitation of workers by large companies, unions have long since become part of the problem rather than part of the solution. All across the country, teacher's unions are obstructing educational reform, and public service unions are driving many cities and states into bankruptcy, and unions have long since driven whole industries, like the domestic steel industry, into extinction. But the madness of the baker's union in this case is simply hard to fathom.

It is true that the company upper management voted itself huge pay and bonus raises last year, probably because they could see the handwriting on the wall for the company and wanted to cash out while they still could.  And it is also true that the market was changing and some of Hostess's products were not as popular as they once were.  But if the Baker's union had agreed to the rather modest cuts that the bankruptcy judge had proposed, at least they would still have jobs.  Instead they are all out of work, and they have put another 12,000 other people out of work as well.

Nor is this the first time the Baker's Union has done this.  Several years ago, the union led its members out on another poorly-conceived strike and drove biscotti-maker Stella D’Oro to close their Bronx facility permanently.

What could the union leadership have been thinking?  And why did the union membership let their leaders get them into this situation?  It boggles the mind!  Certainly it is clear that the union leadership's agenda didn't include keeping their members employed.   And by the way, does the Baker's union leadership also lose their jobs -- I don't think so.