This was my first thought too, lol.
It's probably not hardly at all the union's fault. A local teacher's union took a pay cut to avoid any layoffs in a local district 2 years ago and they got layoffs anyway. The board came back the next year and said there was a mandatory 1300 USD per month paycut (on top of what they'd taken and gotten fucked over on the previous year). They voted to strike and kids in that district very nearly didn't get schooling for several weeks.

What you don't see, when you see these dressed up anti-union slander pieces, is the long line of concessions, butt-fucks, and other shit eating the union members had to put up with for years before it gets to this point. This is while management typically gets big pats on the back from the board, votes themselves pay raises while giving the absolute minimum mandated raise to workers, and generally act like absolute, self entitled fucks.

Then the union votes to take one for the team to fuck management. Then the union won't bend, because management has cried wolf so many times to get what they want and then give themselves pay raises that the union won't believe it.

Trust me, the teamsters union is pissed at the bakers union, but the bakers have fucking had it. Given how poorly bakers tend to get paid country wide, how expensive their schooling can be, and the lack of benefits, horrible hours, etc. I can't say I blame them for saying "fuck off". The bakers union members may barely be making ends meet while the teamsters union membership may be marginally better off.

Dude, do you even know what the point of a strike is? You're playing chicken and if you're not willing to see the company close its doors, you're not fucking doing it right. The bakers get shit pay, they can get shit pay elsewhere, probably at whatever company buys these factories.

In Argentina I believe the employees actually bought their bread factory from the government (who held it for debts or some such) and made it into a super successful co-op business. The guy running the business and the books takes home the same pay as the line workers and they are all better off. It doesn't have to be tragedy, we just thrive on the tragic in the US, when shit challenges our world view of capitalism we'll do the shittiest thing possible to cling to it. Pathetic...

EDIT: What's more, it wasn't just a salary cut, they were cutting pensions AND health care at the same time. Characterizing it as a mere "8%" is disingenuous at best.
Yeah, it was totally those union guys doing this rather than these fucks (that actually own Hostess): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ripplewood_Holdings

What's a twinkie?

Pretty much. I admit it's easy for me to say they were stubborn when I don't know all of the details (What little I have has actually proven to be hard for me to find numbers for quickly), but in the long run, I sympathize with them. It sounds like a crappy position to have to be in, and the fact that people are pointing to large raises in management does give me reason to believe that the company was crying wolf to try to cut down on labor costs.

As far as unions go, I can see both the good and the bad, and I generally take their side. It's become too easy to fire people and cut wages as short term solutions to cutting costs and raising stock prices (Thus getting the upper management higher bonuses and pay because they can now afford it easier).

And leaving out the detail about execs giving themselves an 80% raise also seriously skews the truth of the matter.

Forget that, Zingers and those fruit pies were both better!:)
Agreed, if it's austerity time "for the good of the company" then it's the time to lead by example. I don't know if it's memory playing tricks on me or not, but it seems to me that there was a time when real leaders knew that, now so-called leaders buy Ferrari's or grandstand in congress...

Seriously, I'd go one further than Steve Jobs (who's a fucking douche, anyway, long live Woz!), take a 1 dollar a year salary AND THEN file with the SEC to sell as much of my own options as was possible and safe in order to help fund necessary employee benefits.

I'd get my multi-million salary back when the company was healthy again and my employees were getting pay increases and retirement.

I can't take full credit for this, only the wording:

Is Hostess too tasty to fail? I can almost taste a bailout!

If woman is a bit salty, I would lick her all day long and say "why can't you be crisp?" *uses teeth*

+1 Whats a Twinkie?

well yes, some kind of cookie? =P

Cant say i really know :)...we don't get them here either.....

Freaking americans with those dollars.. ^^

and those tasty treats..

Really? Oh thank you lord!

I wonder if they are as repulsive as a deep-fried Snickers bar?

That sounds delicious, actually.