Don't worry, Twinkies will survive Chapter 7.
Hostess Brands announced at week's end that it was breaking off negotiations with striking employees and entering Chapter 7 liquidation proceedings. The company had been looking for concessions from unions on wages and pension benefits. By holding out, the workers have lost their jobs altogether--18,500 of them (including 500 in Maine). [The drag of union demands on profitability is succinctly documented here.]
The Case of the Disappearing Twinkie has brought a serious outbreak of nostalgia. Apparently Hostess concoctions filled enough Baby Boomer lunchboxes back in the good ol' days to cause--a half century later--a veritable epidemic of latent health consequences, including diabetes and, now we see, saccharine sentimentality. I remain immune. It is possible that I have never eaten a Twinkie in my entire life. It could be, could be, that one or two got dropped into my Halloween goodie bag during all those years of door-to-door trick-or-treating. But my mother would never in a quadrillion years buy or serve mere "snack" food. Her grocery cart at the local A & P invariably carved a wide circle around the Twinkie-Doodle-Dog aisle.
Those who do work that particular aisle can dry their eyes. Twinkies are still made in Canada, so Mainers accustomed to crossing the border to buy drugs can load up on their favorite junk-food fix at the same time. The brand will almost assuredly be revived in the U.S., just under different ownership. Twinkies will still be there for Wall-E to find in the post-apocalyptic rubble. It should be noted that the New Twinkies will be different in one important way. When you buy them, you will no longer be paying for the retirement of the workers who make them.
But you will still need to pay for your insulin.
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