Unions Killed the Twinkie

[Teatownclown]

[TulsaRufnex]

The Department of Labor has taken the position in one local case I was involved in that unpaid but vested pension benefits belong to the employee, whether the money is paid by the employer or withheld from employee wages, so even if they have remained in the possession of the employer, the employer holds those funds in trust and appropriation of the funds for the employer's purpose is embezzlement. If in this case any vested pension benefits were used to pay for operations, that is not a breach without a remedy. Those who had authority can go to prison. The unvested portion is another story, which is probably what they're talking about.

... it's still scary though... I mean, for a relatively new employee, you're taking a job in which you sign paperwork for terms of 401k and pension.  If you quit or are laid off or fired, you will be penalized/taxed unless you transfer the funds to another 401k or pension plan... let's say you've worked at Hostess for 3 years, and are mmmm.... 60% vested.  

Vested in what?  The Feds are gonna want their tax money if upper management decided to put your pension elsewhere, knowing you'd never be fully vested because the company is going to be bankrupt or sold.... oh well....

CEO Pay Grew 127 Times Faster Than Worker Pay Over Last 30 Years: Study
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/02/ceo-pay-worker-pay_n_1471685.html

American CEOs saw their pay spike 15 percent last year, after a 28 percent pay rise the year before, according to a report by GMI Ratings cited by The Guardian. Meanwhile, workers saw their inflation-adjusted wages fall 2 percent in 2011, according to the Labor Department.

That's in line with a trend that dates back three decades. CEO pay spiked 725 percent between 1978 and 2011, while worker pay rose just 5.7 percent, according to a study by the Economic Policy Institute released on Wednesday. That means CEO pay grew 127 times faster than worker pay.

Income inequality between CEOs and workers has consequently exploded, with CEOs last year earning 209.4 times more than workers, compared to just 26.5 times more in 1978 -- meaning CEOs are taking home a larger percentage of company gains.

That trend comes despite workers nearly doubling their productivity during the same time period, when compensation barely rose. Worker productivity spiked 93 percent between 1978 and 2011 on a per-hour basis, and 85 percent on a per-person basis, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

---yeah, it's those lazy factory workers' faults... 

[Ed W]

There is a remedy to the corruption inherent in those running dog capitalist pigs, comrade.

[cynical]

... it's still scary though... I mean, for a relatively new employee, you're taking a job in which you sign paperwork for terms of 401k and pension.  If you quit or are laid off or fired, you will be penalized/taxed unless you transfer the funds to another 401k or pension plan... let's say you've worked at Hostess for 3 years, and are mmmm.... 60% vested. 

Vested in what?  The Feds are gonna want their tax money if upper management decided to put your pension elsewhere, knowing you'd never be fully vested because the company is going to be bankrupt or sold.... oh well....

CEO Pay Grew 127 Times Faster Than Worker Pay Over Last 30 Years: Study
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/02/ceo-pay-worker-pay_n_1471685.html

---yeah, it's those lazy factory workers' faults... 

The IRS does not tax pension money that the employee never possesses. Misappropriated pension funds are not taxable income, at least to the employee.

When I refer to "vested" benefits, I refer to benefits that belong to the employee  ERISA permits private employers to treat retirement benefits, whether in a defined benefit plan or in a defined contribution plan, as not vested for a period of up to five years after the benefit was earned. Think of it as a retention plan. When an employee leaves, he/she can retain any vested pension benefits earned, but will lose any unvested benefits, less any employee contribution.

Misappropriating vested benefits is a very big deal.

[Teatownclown]

http://www.dol.gov/compliance/laws/comp-erisa.htm#.UMos3-Q0WSo

another lawyers wet dream.....

just the depositions will take two years if not longer.

[patric]

http://www.alternet.org/corporate-accountability-and-workplace/twinkie-ceo-admits-company-took-employees-pensions-and-put-it

[TulsaRufnex]

There is a remedy to the corruption inherent in those running dog capitalist pigs, comrade.

Yes, comrade!.... 

[Teatownclown]

So, this is what's wrong with Amerika. The Unions got stomped, the execs took the advantage, and now the new owners will make the bread:
Wal-Mart, Kroger among Hostess bidders: report
http://news.yahoo.com/wal-mart-kroger-among-hostess-bidders-report-210651904--sector.html

so obvious....

you who condemn the workers are pawns as well.....

[Townsend]

Wonder Bread Saved As Flowers Foods Buys Hostess Brands For $360 Million

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/27/wonder-bread-hostess_n_2774048.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

(Reuters) - Flowers Foods Inc is set to buy Hostess bread brands including Wonder bread for $360 million after no other bidder stepped up to make a competing offer, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

The bankrupt bakery company was set to run an auction on Thursday for the brands, which also include Butternut, Home Pride, Merita and Nature's Pride, but there will be no auction since there were no other bids, the source said.

There will be an auction for the Beefsteak brand, for which Flowers bid $30 million, since Hostess received a higher bid from Mexico's Grupo Bimbo, said the source, who declined to be named as the process is private.

The deal with Flowers is still subject to approval by a bankruptcy court.

Flowers agreed in January to be the "stalking horse" bidder, which set a floor for the bidding and was subject to a court-supervised auction.

Hostess declined to comment. Flowers and Bimbo were not immediately available to comment.

[Conan71]

Flowers and Bimbo were not immediately available to comment.

I don't think we've seen "Flowers" and "Bimbo" in the same sentence since the Clinton years.

[Townsend]

I don't think we've seen "Flowers" and "Bimbo" in the same sentence since the Clinton years.

[DolfanBob]

Oh My! 360 Million? 40 or 50 Million maybe. 

[Conan71]

Did you happen to see the original source for that photo?  She had on beaver skin panties. 

[guido911]

Twinkies are coming back. The unions? Not so much.

http://gma.yahoo.com/twinkies-return-hostess-unions-wont-030833930--abc-news-money.html

[DolfanBob]

So much for the Tulsa bakery too.