Sunday, November 18, 2012

Hostess or Hostage?

Hostess is owned by another hedge fund, one that engages in vulture capitalism, one that does not pay workers fairly or that reneges on pension funds.  We need to stop these practices.  Hostess is planning to file bankruptcy -- after one final effort to loot the company with compensation increases, not pay cuts, for the very executives who made decisions that failed to turn around a company that had the potential to be successful.  Bankruptcy sticks other people with the costs of that looting by the hedge fund and the mismanagement by those executives. Executives raising wages when they KNOW that bankruptcy is looming are not being rewarded for merit, for performance; they are trying to cheat the bankruptcy system, they are trying to cheat the creditors, they are trying to cheat their employees, and they are ripping off their communities where they do business.

Hostess tried to rip off their employees in one last grab at more money for their executives and their owners out of the pockets of employees.

This should not be allowed. Cheaters and swindlers should go to jail. Vulture capitalism should be illegal. Vulture capitalism is part of why we have the problem with wealth redistribution in our economy from the 99% to the 1%, creating severe wealth and income inequality.  It's not because the 1% is better or works harder or smarter or otherwise deserves it; it is because they're crooked, it is because they are bad citizens. Hostess is just one more example; just one more example of MANY, too damned many.

5 comments:

  1. It surprised me that the Private Equity firm with controlling stake in Hostess is ran by a prominent Democrat.

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  2. Replies
    1. Whoever did this - and there appears to be a cast of numerous individuals responsible - is wrong an bad, regardless of their political affiliation.

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  3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Collins_(financier)

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ripplewood_Holdings_LLC

    http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/contrib.php?cmte=C00495861&cycle=2012
    Ripplewood Holdings is #36 on this list.

    ReplyDelete