No more Twinkies? Hostess plans to shut down

[A Turtle Named Mack]

I know someone who is earning $20K supporting herself, not sharing quarters, buying her own $100K home, and occasionally helping out her children. There are things she would like to be doing if she had more coming in, but she is getting by just fine - utilities, an annual vacation, cable, DSL, clothes as needed, movies and eating out occasionally. She has to watch her money, but she is doing fine for now, as she goes to college. She would feel quite prosperous indeed at $35K.

[Sue]

Must depend on where you live. $20,000 here won't get you very far no matter how frugal you try to be. Unless my math is off (wouldn't surprise me) that works out to less than minimum wage assuming a 40 hr work week.

[Ryda Wong, EBfCo.]

Originally Posted by A Turtle Named Mack

I know someone who is earning $20K supporting herself, not sharing quarters, buying her own $100K home, and occasionally helping out her children. There are things she would like to be doing if she had more coming in, but she is getting by just fine - utilities, an annual vacation, cable, DSL, clothes as needed, movies and eating out occasionally. She has to watch her money, but she is doing fine for now, as she goes to college. She would feel quite prosperous indeed at $35K.

That MIGHT be possible in certain depressed areas of the South.

[A Turtle Named Mack]

Originally Posted by Ryda Wong, EBfCo.

That MIGHT be possible in certain depressed areas of the South.

It is metro Atlanta, in the suburbs, one of the more prosperous counties, actually. I'll admit the heating costs are not too bad here, but electricity during the A/C months can mount up.

[Ryda Wong, EBfCo.]

The very fact that a house can be had for $100K is kind of indicative of the depression in the area.

[snopes]

Originally Posted by Ryda Wong, EBfCo.

They didn't. Had the company provided their employees with a half-way decent wage and benefits, this wouldn't have been an issue. If they can't afford to pay employees half-way decent wages and benefits, they need to quit doing business. I don't see anything petty about saying "no, you will not continue to screw me over."

You've missed the point entirely.

Whichever side you may believe to be (most) at blame, the fact is that the unsettled strike with the BCTGMIU is the proximate cause that led Hostess to go out of business. A striking employee who says he doesn't care if the company goes out of business because he'd rather work somewhere else anyway is engaging in cognitive dissonance, because he could have gone to work somewhere else any time he chose -- he didn't have to go out on strike or wait for the company to shut down before that option was available to him.

[Sue]

Originally Posted by A Turtle Named Mack

It is metro Atlanta, in the suburbs, one of the more prosperous counties, actually.

How'd she score a house for $100,000 in an area like that? Things must be a lot tougher there than I realized.

[UEL]

Originally Posted by Ryda Wong, EBfCo.

The very fact that a house can be had for $100K is kind of indicative of the depression in the area.

In your neck of the woods. There are plenty of homes all across North America that are not in excess of $100k and not in an economically depressed area.

[dfresh]

Originally Posted by Sue

Unless my math is off (wouldn't surprise me) that works out to less than minimum wage assuming a 40 hr work week.

$20,000 per year is $10 per hour, for a 40 hour/week job, working 50 hours per week. The US federal minimum wage is $7.25/hour.

[Sue]

Originally Posted by Sue

How'd she score a house for $100,000 in an area like that? Things must be a lot tougher there than I realized.

Just did a search and answered my own question. According to one site I looked at housing prices in Atlanta are back to what they were in 1997 .

Originally Posted by dfresh

$20,000 per year is $10 per hour, for a 40 hour/week job, working 50 hours per week. The US federal minimum wage is $7.25/hour.

Thanks for checking my math! $7.25 is your minimum wage? Wow. Here in Ontario the general minimum wage is $10.25.

[Ryda Wong, EBfCo.]

Originally Posted by snopes

A striking employee who says he doesn't care if the company goes out of business because he'd rather work somewhere else anyway is engaging in cognitive dissonance, because he could have gone to work somewhere else any time he chose -- he didn't have to go out on strike or wait for the company to shut down before that option was available to him.

Or he's showing that he's not a particularly good speaker. What he means by "it's not worth it" and that he'd rather work somewhere else or draw unemployment is that it isn't worth it to continue to work at Hostess if they don't meet the demands of the union. This does not mean that he feels other jobs that would pay him the wages he's asking for are actually available and open or that he wanted to leave a position he seems to have held for quite some time.

[Ryda Wong, EBfCo.]

Originally Posted by Sue

Just did a search and answered my own question. According to one site I looked at housing prices in Atlanta are back to what they were in 1997 .

The Jax metro area is much the same way.

[Ryda Wong, EBfCo.]

Originally Posted by UEL

In your neck of the woods. There are plenty of homes all across North America that are not in excess of $100k and not in an economically depressed area.

Certainly not that I'm aware of in urban or suburban areas.

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by UEL

In your neck of the woods. There are plenty of homes all across North America that are not in excess of $100k and not in an economically depressed area.

Substitute "lower cost of living" for "economically depressed" and the point is still valid.

ETA: As an example, according to this calculator, the cost of housing is 30% higher in Denver than in Marietta, GA.

[Sue]

Originally Posted by UEL

In your neck of the woods. There are plenty of homes all across North America that are not in excess of $100k and not in an economically depressed area.

That's one reason (among many) that we plan to move back to the Maritimes when we retire. I know our retirement income will stretch a lot further back home than it ever will if we stay in Ottawa.

[hambubba]

My son, who also lives in a county near Atlanta, makes *maybe* 35K a year. He bought a house that cost less than mine and is nicer with nearly an acre of land. Problem is, there aren't enough high paying jobs. In this case, the household market is on tabs with income.

Where I live now, after Katrina, I couldn't afford a home if I were sell mine. The market is tight, and we also have much higher incomes available than most places. However, based on the FEMA lines, lots of people make 18K or less. Or are lying. Renters are many, too, for those who simply can't afford the outrageous payments we have here. It's split - renting is almost as high as a note, but without a down payment you simply can't buy a house.

[crocoduck_hunter]

Originally Posted by UEL

In your neck of the woods. There are plenty of homes all across North America that are not in excess of $100k and not in an economically depressed area.

But what's the size of the house, the size of the property it's built on, and the condition of both?

Originally Posted by Sue

Thanks for checking my math! $7.25 is your minimum wage? Wow. Here in Ontario the general minimum wage is $10.25.

That's the federal minimum wage, but many states have higher minimum wages.

[Hero_Mike]

Originally Posted by snopes

A striking employee who says he doesn't care if the company goes out of business because he'd rather work somewhere else anyway is engaging in cognitive dissonance, because he could have gone to work somewhere else any time he chose -- he didn't have to go out on strike or wait for the company to shut down before that option was available to him.

A union worker may be hoping for a severance in the wake of a closure - being free to go work somewhere else may be true, but it would risk losing out on that severance. Now the likelihood of such a severance existing in this particular case, or it being worth the wait, is another story altogether....

[A Turtle Named Mack]

Originally Posted by crocoduck_hunter

But what's the size of the house, the size of the property it's built on, and the condition of both?

The one I was talking about is in good shape (except a roof problem that the inspector overlooked), 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 baths, living room, dining room, large den, fireplace, deck, about 3/4 acre with a stream and woods for about 1/3 of the lot.

[Beachlife!]

Originally Posted by Lainie

Substitute "lower cost of living" for "economically depressed" and the point is still valid.

ETA: As an example, according to this calculator, the cost of housing is 30% higher in Denver than in Marietta, GA.

In the particular case where the guy was making $35k a year working for Hostess, he was in Boonville, MO. I would guess it isn't one of the places in the country with an excessively high cost of living.