So it's become clear that the Bakers union ignored advice from the Teamsters union, ignored concessions and offers from the Hostess CEO's, ignored market conditions and ignored the balance sheets and went on strike anyway.
What a bunch of Ding Dongs!
So I wanted to talk about mindsets. For awhile I saw tons of flaming posts on facebook about how "evil" and "greedy" these CEO's were. Everyone just assumed the Unions and Strikers we're right and righteous. Fighters of equality and justice! But why?
I think in the beginning for a Union to be formed there has to be some perceived injustice and unfairness. So a Union comes about as a powerful negotiation tool to right a wrong. But that doesn't mean they continue in that fashion. Because they are allowed to accept fees (dues) and in fact demand them from their members they turn into a center for profiteering. Union bosses collect wages for their duties thus giving them incentive to maintain their position not necessarily for the good of others.
Union corruption aside, what about the average striker? I worked under some awful conditions in my time. Horrible bosses, low pay and perhaps unhealthy conditions. Yet for some reason I never got the idea to take a day off without pay, make a wooden sign and yell at my boss. Why should that better things? If a single man were to yell at his boss and refuse to work we would expect him to be fired. But if a group of people do it we assume they must be right? Is this just some kind of psychology scenario? If a bunch of them are yelling it must be ok. If only one guy yells he's a psycho?
The company, CEO, Union, and workers should be positioning themselves towards the same goal: Making things better for workers and customers. Sometimes a Union slap in the face is in order, CEO's are not perfect and don't listen to the needs of their workforce. But the growing power of Unions in America is troubling because they often do not listen to the needs of the company, the customers or the market. They only look at the needs of themselves and their workers. Like investors who demand constant profits from a company this leads to weak long term outlook. In basic terms: Sometimes you need to do things that are uncomfortable or risky so that your company continues to innovate and provide to it's customers. No customers no company, no company no workers, no workers no union! Look at Hostess, the CEO's showed them the books. The Teamsters pleaded for the Bakers Union to heed the facts and return to work. Yet they didn't listen. They put their "needs" (wants really) above all others. Now their all jobless!
(Actually it get's worse. The Union Baker only accounte for 30% of the company staff. Yet they brought the whole thing down. That means 70% of the workforce got screwed for something they would not have even benefited from. Plus we don't get twinkies!)
So what does it? What thought goes through a persons mind that says "I offer nothing new. I do no more work than before. I learn no new trades. I offer no competitive or productive advantage to my company who is dire straits. Yet I demand more pay!"
When a company has weak profits it's because it fails to provide MORE for it's customer in some way. More value through better product, lower prices, easier availability, better brand awereness. In order for a company (product or service) to generate more revenue it must provide more value of some kind. Price hiking only works in moderate amounts. Raise your prices too much and you open the door for your competition.
Ultimately we can't treat someone else's business, which is designed to serve customers not employees, as our salvation from everything. It's not our personal retreat from those we don't like. It's not a source for easy work and high pay without providing value to others. It's not there to guide us in morals and retirement plans.
If we want more we should seek more from ourselves. Build ourselves up, gain more knowledge so that we can serve others better. If you need more pay don't pick up a wooden sign and hurt someone. Instead find more ways to serve society. Start a business, start an ebay account, help others market their products, find new ways to generate cash online or offline by helpings others.
The day you decide to hurt your own company, to take a day off (or 2 days, or a week) and make a wooden sign calling others greedy for not giving you more for the same amount of work as the day before, that's the day you should be ready for the blowback.
"Hostess is a corrupt company," Baker's Union said, "and is attempting to shut their plant down because we are not willing to conform and take slave wages. We won't do that."
You went on strike while a company was filing bankruptcy! And what are these "slave wages" you speak of? You mean the above-minimum wage your 300 union members and 700+ non union members we're making before you lead them out into the streets into unemployment?
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/bakers-union-member-hostess-was-no-longer-a-baking-company-2012-11#ixzz2CY9MJmCj
What a bunch of Ding Dongs!
So I wanted to talk about mindsets. For awhile I saw tons of flaming posts on facebook about how "evil" and "greedy" these CEO's were. Everyone just assumed the Unions and Strikers we're right and righteous. Fighters of equality and justice! But why?
I think in the beginning for a Union to be formed there has to be some perceived injustice and unfairness. So a Union comes about as a powerful negotiation tool to right a wrong. But that doesn't mean they continue in that fashion. Because they are allowed to accept fees (dues) and in fact demand them from their members they turn into a center for profiteering. Union bosses collect wages for their duties thus giving them incentive to maintain their position not necessarily for the good of others.
Union corruption aside, what about the average striker? I worked under some awful conditions in my time. Horrible bosses, low pay and perhaps unhealthy conditions. Yet for some reason I never got the idea to take a day off without pay, make a wooden sign and yell at my boss. Why should that better things? If a single man were to yell at his boss and refuse to work we would expect him to be fired. But if a group of people do it we assume they must be right? Is this just some kind of psychology scenario? If a bunch of them are yelling it must be ok. If only one guy yells he's a psycho?
The company, CEO, Union, and workers should be positioning themselves towards the same goal: Making things better for workers and customers. Sometimes a Union slap in the face is in order, CEO's are not perfect and don't listen to the needs of their workforce. But the growing power of Unions in America is troubling because they often do not listen to the needs of the company, the customers or the market. They only look at the needs of themselves and their workers. Like investors who demand constant profits from a company this leads to weak long term outlook. In basic terms: Sometimes you need to do things that are uncomfortable or risky so that your company continues to innovate and provide to it's customers. No customers no company, no company no workers, no workers no union! Look at Hostess, the CEO's showed them the books. The Teamsters pleaded for the Bakers Union to heed the facts and return to work. Yet they didn't listen. They put their "needs" (wants really) above all others. Now their all jobless!
(Actually it get's worse. The Union Baker only accounte for 30% of the company staff. Yet they brought the whole thing down. That means 70% of the workforce got screwed for something they would not have even benefited from. Plus we don't get twinkies!)
So what does it? What thought goes through a persons mind that says "I offer nothing new. I do no more work than before. I learn no new trades. I offer no competitive or productive advantage to my company who is dire straits. Yet I demand more pay!"
When a company has weak profits it's because it fails to provide MORE for it's customer in some way. More value through better product, lower prices, easier availability, better brand awereness. In order for a company (product or service) to generate more revenue it must provide more value of some kind. Price hiking only works in moderate amounts. Raise your prices too much and you open the door for your competition.
Ultimately we can't treat someone else's business, which is designed to serve customers not employees, as our salvation from everything. It's not our personal retreat from those we don't like. It's not a source for easy work and high pay without providing value to others. It's not there to guide us in morals and retirement plans.
If we want more we should seek more from ourselves. Build ourselves up, gain more knowledge so that we can serve others better. If you need more pay don't pick up a wooden sign and hurt someone. Instead find more ways to serve society. Start a business, start an ebay account, help others market their products, find new ways to generate cash online or offline by helpings others.
The day you decide to hurt your own company, to take a day off (or 2 days, or a week) and make a wooden sign calling others greedy for not giving you more for the same amount of work as the day before, that's the day you should be ready for the blowback.
"Hostess is a corrupt company," Baker's Union said, "and is attempting to shut their plant down because we are not willing to conform and take slave wages. We won't do that."
You went on strike while a company was filing bankruptcy! And what are these "slave wages" you speak of? You mean the above-minimum wage your 300 union members and 700+ non union members we're making before you lead them out into the streets into unemployment?
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/bakers-union-member-hostess-was-no-longer-a-baking-company-2012-11#ixzz2CY9MJmCj
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