Ding Dong, It's Dead.

As Labor Talks Collapse, Hostess Turns Out Lights - NYTimes.com

the big question is whether or not the owners of a company have the right to make money from the company by whatever means necessary.  In negotiations with Unions they barter away some of those rights in return for guaranteed labor for a specific price.  It is win/win.  The company has a figure for labor costs and laborers can depend on a set amount for paychecks and benefits.  It this instance the profit motive of a company is skewed by the purchase of that company by private equity which turns the profit motive from one of income over expenses to one of fiscal opportunism.  Fiscal policy is much different from economic policy in that it makes money in the exchange of assets and cash rather than in the sale of product.  This is what has drive this company into the ditch.  It is a variation of the money game that drove our national economy into the ditch.  There is little interest in developing a profitable company and every interest in using the assets to generate fiscal wealth.