Today's fun story is the return of Twinkies, due in stores this summer. Less fun for Obama's labor agenda is that Hostess's new owner is not hiring union labor to bake and deliver its products. Because the former Hostess liquidated in bankruptcy several months ago, no labor contracts exist between Hostess and powerful unions such as the Teamsters. The steady decline of private sector unions is nothing new, but the Hostess restructuring is a test case for unions and Obama's ability to repay them for their support.
Obama's latest nemesis –Twinkie The Kid
Obama is a union man, and there is hardly a sliver of daylight between his agenda and the unions' (a notable exception is the Keystone XL pipeline). During his reign, SEIU's Andy Stern was the most frequent White House visitor – during a time Obama was reported to be restoring the US economy, closing Gitmo, and ending two wars. AFL-CIO's Richard Trumka brags about having Obama on speed-dial. Obama knows that while Black and environmentalist voters are his base of enthusiasm and good PR, unions are his base of money. The decline of private sector union power is a serious threat to Obama and Democrats power. Obama has made union organizing easier by redefining entire industries regulatory structure (e.g. FedEx) and by illegally appointing union activists to the NLRB. Obama has made union organizing faster by eliminating most of the time companies would have to state their case for open shops. Obama is paying back decades of unrewarded union support to Democrats.
The unions' and Obama's problem is that most workers do not want union jobs. Union jobs are in decline, so anyone who wants job stability steers clear. Further, union hostility toward free markets and the GOP must irritate at least some working class families. In any event, manufacturing is growing in the US, but not in union shops. Obama and V.P. Biden may claim to have saved the auto industry, but the non-union auto factories in the South never needed saving.
The unanswered question of unionism is whether current union members would like to continue to pay dues earmarked for Democrat politicians. Once union, a shop rarely goes back. The union system ostracizes anyone who does not toe the line, which means union halls shutter only when companies shut down too.
Hostess offers an unusual test case as to whether union members really appreciate their unions. The new Hostess will reopen previously union factories, including one in Illinois. Almost certainly some workers will be rehired, albeit without union representation, and they will be free to organize. No doubt, the unions that represented the old Hostess's various trades will seek to organize the new Hostess. Look for complaints before the NLRB, picket lines, and a little help from Obama and the Old Media. Expect the New York Times to report that Hostess has cut worker pay, benefits, and rights, ignoring that the old system drove Hostess to liquidation.
Given the high visibility of the Twinkie The Kid returning to gas stations around the US, the failure to unionize Hostess would be a major blow to unions and Obama's credibility with them. The new Hostess is a clear-cut experiment as to whether workers and communities really want unions. Do workers see unions as allies or the fools who cost them their jobs in the first place? The labor flacks at Obama's White House are surely working overtime to prevent a disaster in their money base.
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