Concessions

The Hostess company closing highlights a couple of problems in this city. One, we don't miss the water until the well runs dry. And you can't get blood from a Turnip. I'm not sure how much they were making at Wonder Bread, but they were by no means the working poor. It's the kind of job hustlers keep. Easy work and decent pay. Many families have been supported and homes and autos have been bought with paychecks from that plant. People lie about how much money they make. But very few people in Memphis are earning more than they were.

The $12/20 hr.jobs are the mainstay of this local economy. These 250  hourly jobs are more far reaching than the proposed 100 at International Paper, which might pay more individually. But Wonder Bread is a Memphis staple. When all the other good paying  jobs were closing down and laying off.  The people wearing all white and the blue hair bonnets  were working at full capacity. You could smell the bread all over downtown. This is a big loss for the city.

We have lost two major employers in Memphis in the last year. This closing is as bad or worse than losing Cleo Wrap. I know Hostess has locations in more than just Memphis. But I don't know if other cities will be so adversely affected as we will be here. This city needs those jobs just like the others. But the overall impact may be somewhat different though. Cleo Wrap hired a lot of temporary and seasonal workers. Yearly unemployment checks was part of the job. The employees at Hostess were working overtime. Not just forty hour weeks. I bet some of those workers were making $1000 a wk. before taxes. This is not like losing six locations at Backyard Burgers or closing the Dowmtown Butcher Shop . Which is also bad. But we're looking at losing over 500 head of household jobs between the two companies. The days of working on one job until you retire are over. Just like the workers, the attitude of the owners have changed.

I heard one worker say "if his job caught on fire. He would be right there with the firemen grabbing the hose". Now I don't know what this persons compensation package was, but he did say he wasn't in a Union. He clearly understood the importance of his job. He wasn't trusting  his future to a shop steward and some out of town lawyers. A contract doesn't take the place of a paycheck. Semi-skilled workers are going to have to do some serious reevaluating of their positions. In most cases it's just a matter of time. Companies are closing down. Consumers aren't going to pay $6 for a loaf of bread and $3 for some Twinkies. So the workers can make $20 hr.and pay no insurance premiums. It seems like the workers are losing now because they had it so good before. All good things eventually come to and end.  Even the Teamsters advised them to return to work. That should have been a sign in itself. The Union can't force companies to provide you a job. They're going to have to make some concessions now.