Hostess closes its doors for good.

[Legend]

In an announcement posted on its Web site, the company said it was “sorry to announce that Hostess Brands, Inc. has been forced by a Bakers Union strike to shut down all operations and sell all company assets.” CEO Gregory F. Rayburn said in the statement that “we deeply regret the necessity of today’s decision, but we do not have the financial resources to weather an extended nationwide strike.”

The striking Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Union had been cautioned: In a move the Wall Street Journal called “a sort of warning shot,” three plants had already been shut down, eliminating 627 jobs on Monday. On Wednesday, the company said it would be forced to liquidate if enough employees did not return to work by the end of the workday Thursday. This was also not the company’s first bankruptcy.

Maybe the gap in trust between management and the union had simply grown too wide. The last CEO, Brian Driscoll, had seen a big salary increase. He was abruptly replaced by Rayburn earlier this year, who was the sixth head of the company in the last decade. That kind of turnover is not typically a good environment for labor relations, in which a history of past successes between leaders and unions can be drawn upon for future goodwill.

Or more likely, the union workers kept at the strike because the last time the company had threatened liquidation, it didn’t follow through. During its last stint in Chapter 11, the company said “a vote against its last, best, final offer by either of its two largest unions would prompt an immediate liquidation,” the Journal reports. “But when the bakers union gave Hostess just that trigger, Hostess instead decided to take its case back to the court.” When leaders do that, it’s harder for the people who work for them to take the threats seriously the next time around.

Whatever were the reasons for the “exquisite game of chicken,” as a fascinating and in-depth Fortune story called the labor disputes, the end result is sad. Eighteen-thousand people are out of a job. The company’s private equity owner may not get anything back. And while some brands could find buyers, it looks like in this case the Gen Xers raised on Hostess snacks are losing an icon.


Some lucky company is gonna buy up the recipes and make billions off it. Do you think these people regret going on strike now? Maybe the Walmart employees should take this as a lesson learned, your lucky to have a job. So do it and stop **CENSORED**ing about your paycheck.

[cyberdude558]

Thanks to the unions.

Fighting for workers rights, yet they just lost everyone their job.

[JavaRay]

Unions were necessary years ago.   Now they are not feasible given the current economy.   Now they are an evil dragging the US down into the toilet.

[JavaRay]

How the hell can a company that makes great items like this go out of business?    Hostess is about as much of an American icon as there is.

[Legend]

Those snacks will be back, some big company is going to see the profit.

[JavaRay]

So Obama just allowed 18,500 jobs to be lost overnight.    Nice work Obama.

[Skull and Bones]

Some lucky company is gonna buy up the recipes and make billions off of it. 


Wouldn't surprise me if our company buys the name.  Aren't we partnered with them in Canada.

[Skull and Bones]

How the hell can a company that makes great items like this go out of business?    Hostess is about as much of an American icon as there is.

Snowballs are my favorite.  Twinkies, Funny Bones, Ring Dings I can take or leave.

[JavaRay]

Snoballs are awesome!   Hohos are good too.   They have a lot of good stuff.   

[Carldavis]

Yes Hostess is the nice item for the Americans and why the company can't build it..? http://www.lacoteimmo.com/

[OneTruth]

And now Hostess is asking the courts if they can give upper management $1.75 million...."because its important to retain their talent and if we don't pay them another company will..."
what a sad joke American capitalism has become.
Thousands of workers with families were told to take a pay reduction but top tier management continues to see pay increases year after year, along with golden parachutes, and ungodly incentives....with no end in sight.

[OneTruth]

What
the union bashers don't realize wasn't the 1st time the company was demanding
major concessions from their employees. 4 years ago the IBT union accepted a cut
of $150 per week in salary and health care  contributions per member for Hostess
to exit bankruptcy. Other unions accepted cuts also nationwide. How is it
possible 4 years later the company is in even worse shape than before? During
the summer of 2011 the company ceased pension payments to all if it's associated
unions. 6 months later it was discovered the top 10 officers voted pay raises of
up to 300% for themselves immediately after doing this. Why isn't this story
part of the headlines? It always seems to be the unions fault.

 

Most
unions... including mine, voted to accept this bad contract just to keep
working. But it's not surprising the bakers decided enough was enough. Nobody
really believed the company was interested in staying open long term, the
investment banks that owned the company would continue to suck the company dry
and close at a later date. This may seem to be an oversimplification, but it's
the truth.

 

an
(EX) Hostess brands employee

[olafberserker]

Snoballs are awesome!

Snowballs are my favorite. 

[/quote]

chuckle

[nybuccguy]

What
the union bashers don't realize wasn't the 1st time the company was demanding
major concessions from their employees. 4 years ago the IBT union accepted a cut
of $150 per week in salary and health care  contributions per member for Hostess
to exit bankruptcy. Other unions accepted cuts also nationwide. How is it
possible 4 years later the company is in even worse shape than before? During
the summer of 2011 the company ceased pension payments to all if it's associated
unions. 6 months later it was discovered the top 10 officers voted pay raises of
up to 300% for themselves immediately after doing this. Why isn't this story
part of the headlines? It always seems to be the unions fault.

 

Most
unions... including mine, voted to accept this bad contract just to keep
working. But it's not surprising the bakers decided enough was enough. Nobody
really believed the company was interested in staying open long term, the
investment banks that owned the company would continue to suck the company dry
and close at a later date. This may seem to be an oversimplification, but it's
the truth.

 

an
(EX) Hostess brands employee

Who cares about facts? Its the unions fault! Obama did this!

[mrjack535]

What
the union bashers don't realize wasn't the 1st time the company was demanding
major concessions from their employees. 4 years ago the IBT union accepted a cut
of $150 per week in salary and health care  contributions per member for Hostess
to exit bankruptcy. Other unions accepted cuts also nationwide. How is it
possible 4 years later the company is in even worse shape than before? During
the summer of 2011 the company ceased pension payments to all if it's associated
unions. 6 months later it was discovered the top 10 officers voted pay raises of
up to 300% for themselves immediately after doing this. Why isn't this story
part of the headlines? It always seems to be the unions fault.

 

Most
unions... including mine, voted to accept this bad contract just to keep
working. But it's not surprising the bakers decided enough was enough. Nobody
really believed the company was interested in staying open long term, the
investment banks that owned the company would continue to suck the company dry
and close at a later date. This may seem to be an oversimplification, but it's
the truth.

 

an
(EX) Hostess brands employee

A link to why hostess really went under.

http://www.examiner.com/article/the-real-reasons-hostess-went-bankrupt