Richard Trumpka Blames "Bain" Policies For Hostess' Shuttering

So you gets what you gets.

I have absolutely no sympathy. 18,500 people are losing their jobs and it's entirely their own fault. This is a bad economy to be jobless in. You'd think they might have heard.

But they didn't. And Richard Trumka wants you to know it's because of "Bain-like" policies. Such as owners wishing to make a profit on their companies, and not simply operate them as public charities for the benefit of the unions and the pension operations.

“What’s happening with Hostess Brands is a microcosm of what’s wrong with America, as Bain-style Wall Street vultures make themselves rich by making America poor,” Trumka said in a public statement. “Crony capitalism and consistently poor management drove Hostess into the ground, but its workers are paying the price.”

Earlier Friday, Hostess Brands announced that it would be closing, which the company said was precipitated by a workers’ strike.

...

“These workers, who consistently make great products Americans love and have offered multiple concessions, want their company to succeed,” Trumka said in the statement. “They have bravely taken a stand against the corporate race-to-the-bottom. And now they and their communities are suffering the tragedy of a needless layoff. This is wrong. It has to stop. It’s wrecking America.”

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In 2009, Hostess came out of bankruptcy thanks in part to private equity firm Ripplewood Holdings, which made a $130 million investment...

So the company was already in bankruptcy, and a Bain-like private equity firm brought it out of bankruptcy due to a $130 million investment, which the investors, get this, hoped to one day see a profit on.

The union workers disagreed, and told the investors that they should not only never expect a profit, but that they would continue escalating demands so that additional bankruptcies and additional bailouts of millions of dollars would follow.

So, the investors said: See ya. No use throwing good money after bad.

But remember, it's the people who spent $130 million to bring the company out of bankruptcy who are the villains here.

Unionism seems to be animated by the religious conviction that only the union laborer is deserving to make any money whatsoever for his exertions. Everyone else -- investors, owners, taxpayers -- exists solely to donate their money to the cause of union profit.

posted by Ace at 03:57 PM

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