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No more Twinkies, Snowballs, Ho-Hos or Ding Dongs
No more Twinkies, Snowballs, Ho-Hos or Ding Dongs
Hostess Brands says it is going out of business, closing plants that make Twinkies and Wonder Bread and laying off all of its 18,500 workers.
The Irving, Texas, company says a nationwide worker strike crippled its ability to make and deliver its products at several locations.
Hostess had warned employees that it would file a motion in U.S. Bankruptcy Court to unwind its business and sell assets if plant operations didn't return to normal levels by Thursday evening.
The privately held company filed for Chapter 11 protection in January, its second trip through bankruptcy court in less than a decade.
Hostess, based in Irving, Texas, has already reached a contract agreement with its largest union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. But thousands of members in its second-biggest union went on
strike late last week after rejecting in September a contract offer that cut wages and benefits. Officials for the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union say the company stopped contributing to workers' pensions last year.
In an interview with Fox Business, Hostess CEO Gregory Rayburn said many workers have already crossed picket lines this week to go back to work despite warnings by union leadership that they'd be fined.
"The problem is we don't have enough crossing those lines to maintain normal production," said Rayburn, who first joined Hostess earlier this year as a restructuring expert.
Hostess says that production at about a dozen of the company's 33 plants has been seriously affected by the strike. Three plants were closed earlier this week.
A representative for the bakery-workers union did not respond to request for comment. The Teamsters meanwhile are urging the smaller union to hold a secret ballot on whether to continue striking. Citing its financial experts who had access to the company's books, the Teamsters say that Hostess' warning of liquidation is "not an empty threat or a negotiating tactic" but a certain outcome if workers continue striking.
The Teamsters also noted that the strike put its union members in the "horrible position" of deciding whether to cross picket lines.
Hostess, a privately held company, filed for Chapter 11 protection in January, its second trip through bankruptcy court in less than a decade. The company cited increasing pension and medical costs for employees as one of the drivers behind its latest filing. Hostess has argued that workers must make concessions for it to exit bankruptcy and improve its financial position.
The company, founded in 1930, is fighting battles beyond labor costs, however. Competition is increasing in the snack space and Americans are increasingly conscious about healthy eating. Hostess also makes Dolly Madison, Drake's and Nature's Pride snacks.
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It’s a hard one to swallow, while everyone else cuts back, some demand more or they won’t work. The article didn’t say but on CNBC this AM the Teamsters had their vote and voted to not strike with them as the bakers demands weren’t enough to risk shutting the company down over so little. But I guess too much yeast rots the brain. 8% pay cut across the board for everyone top down, union or not, with 4% back in the next 5 years sounds like a deal to me.
Keep a job at a long-standing American icon and tighten my belt like everyone else and pull my own weight.
Or shut the place down and look confused when no one wants to hire you before those who would of taken a 50% cut to keep a job, any job.
Wonder Bread isn't even cooked! You can make pellets out of it, dry them and they work pretty well with a large elastic finger type slingshot, or a larger straw rather than spitballs.
The Vulcan would have been devastated years ago. He grew up on the stuff. My mother baked or bought hard ethnic bread from a bakery. Having to chew that hard stuff was supposed to be good for you.
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I bet Kraft will buy the brands. Twinkies, Snowballs, Ho-Hos or Ding Dongs will still be available, main difference is, they'll be made in China from now on.
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I see what you did there.
I really do hope someone continues the baking goodness, it will be a sad sorry day otherwise. I love me some pink Sno-Balls. And Ho-Ho's. And Ding Dongs. And those little pies. I can live without Twinkies and Wonder bread.
It is a shame the unions couldn't see the yeast rising through the bread-laden forest though.
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Can't blame the union on this one. They took a reduction in pay the last go round. Gotta look at the CEO who just got a huge bonus, or the pay raises of the executives got.
It funny, when a product is doing well, the executives take all the credit. But when there are problems, blame the workers and the union.
Can't blame the union on this one. They took a reduction in pay the last go round. Gotta look at the CEO who just got a huge bonus, or the pay raises of the executives got.
It funny, when a product is doing well, the executives take all the credit. But when there are problems, blame the workers and the union.
Teamster Forever!
Credit to the Teamsters, they agreed to the new contract, recognizing there was no other option. It was the Bakers union who rejected it. In fact the Teamsters put out a statement saying the concessions were necessary, and they were disappointed other stakeholders (Bakers union but didn't call them by name) were unwilling to cooperate. Plus it was a court-ordered contract, the executives had nothing to do with it.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Biaviian
Absolutely you can. If they hadn't gone on strike then they wouldn't be in this mess.
I'd they hadn't gone on strike, that would have been accepting things as they were. At some point, you have to say "enough is enough". You get tired of working your ass off, watching a company grow & prosper, while you struggle to make ends meet, all the while watching the upper management executives get huge salaries & bonuses.
Tell those in those top offices to give back 8% of their wages, and see how they'll react. That's just American greed at its finest.
I'd they hadn't gone on strike, that would have been accepting things as they were. At some point, you have to say "enough is enough". You get tired of working your ass off, watching a company grow & prosper, while you struggle to make ends meet, all the while watching the upper management executives get huge salaries & bonuses.
Tell those in those top offices to give back 8% of their wages, and see how they'll react. That's just American greed at its finest.
If they don't like it then they can leave. Nobody is entitled to a job or a certain wage (other then minimum wage). People these days feel like they are entitled to make the same amount as others. That is the type of thinking that gets us into trouble.
The fact that the strike caused this mess is indisputable; it is a fact. You may feel the strike is warranted and blame others for the strike but the fact remains that the strike caused it. It was one union covering only 30% of the employees that caused this mess.
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WOW - I just heard the news say - The picketers crippled the already bankrupt company because the refused the 8% or 18% pay cut (whatever it was) ... Hmmmm, "They'd rather be unemployed than to take a pay cut??? THAT really showed Hostess now didn't it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 350X
HomePride wheat bread is the best, I could eat a whole loaf as is.
I'm gonna have to disagree with you ... I think Hillbilly Bread is the best thing since sliced bread
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Last edited by Steven58; November 16th, 2012 at 06:05 PM.
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I think it's a plot to destabilize western cultures. I mean a world without twinkies is just unsettling. Governments will fall, chaos rule, the masses will riot, cats & dogs will start living together...... Anarchy. Pure Anarchy.
I think it's a plot to destabilize western cultures. I mean a world without twinkies is just unsettling. Governments will fall, chaos rule, the masses will riot, cats & dogs will start living together...... Anarchy. Pure Anarchy.
Hostess, the makers of Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Wonder Bread, is going out of business after striking workers failed to heed a Thursday deadline to return to work, the company said.
Interesting. How can they just go on strike suddenly and the company is going bankrupt. They have been going under all along, probably from the top execs skimming.
We the undersigned, hereby request Barack Obama to immediately Nationalize the Twinkie industry and prevent our nation from losing her sweet creamy center.
Interesting. How can they just go on strike suddenly and the company is going bankrupt. They have been going under all along, probably from the top execs skimming.
I read a news article that stated that Hostess has filed for bankruptcy twice since the early 2000's. It looks like they're throwing in the towel, now.
So the blame can't rest squarely on the unions (specifically the Bakers' union) as it sounds like this company hasn't been managed effectively. Although the unions are going to get the most of the blame, and maybe unjustly so. I'm sure the top execs gave themselves very large bonuses and pay raises. But the unions did ask for too much. So it was a case of mutually assured destruction and greed rules the day.
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CEO on CNBC said there was plenty of blame to go around for the state of things, but the problem was there was only one way to save the company. And even the teamsters agree'ed with that.
But some reason it only took 30% of the bread workers union to get the other 70% willing to take the deal, shiet canned too.
News last night interviewed people from the local plant. The union (s) that had voted to take the pay cut was thoroughly annoyed with the bakers union and were very vocal about it.
I think it's a plot to destabilize western cultures. I mean a world without twinkies is just unsettling. Governments will fall, chaos rule, the masses will riot, cats & dogs will start living together...... Anarchy. Pure Anarchy.
^This.
I guess that the Mayans were right after all.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wyndslash
America has been exporting its "culture" enough
Takes two to tango.
When others import and buy less, we'll export and sell less.
I read a news article that stated that Hostess has filed for bankruptcy twice since the early 2000's. It looks like they're throwing in the towel, now.
So the blame can't rest squarely on the unions (specifically the Bakers' union) as it sounds like this company hasn't been managed effectively. Although the unions are going to get the most of the blame, and maybe unjustly so. I'm sure the top execs gave themselves very large bonuses and pay raises. But the unions did ask for too much. So it was a case of mutually assured destruction and greed rules the day.
The blame for them finally going under can be 100% put on the BCTGM. Yes they were in trouble before but the Teamsters agree to pay-cuts in order to help Hostess survive and rebuild. If the BCTGM had agreed to the same deal then they wouldn't be in this mess.
If you are throwing around blame for Hostess getting into the mess from the beginning then of course you can blame management some but management didn't cause this last issue.
If manufactured in China, you could find some strange fillers again.
I think the originals tasted like cardboard anyway. I'm looking at a King Arthur Flour catalog and if you like sweets, this stuff is really attractive. What's nice, if you follow directions it turns out just like the picture.
There's an Interstate Bakeries Corporation bakery right next to the interstate about 5 miles from my house. My wife and I loved driving by it, it smelled awesome.
I'm sure the component brands will be bought, but who knows if that bakery will still be operating.
The judge has ordered the owners and the union back to the table to try one last time to come to an agreement. I really don't think the owners want to save the company. They would rather sell off the brands and take the money and run, rather than go through trying to emerge from bankruptcy. They get the added bonus of giving the unions a black eye on the way out. Owners also won't have to look like the bad guys for shipping the jobs to China, which is probably inevitable. Shame about the jobs, but all of those snacks are terrible in my opinion. They taste stale no matter how fresh they are.
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Hostess Brands and a key union agreed Monday to try to mediate their dispute -- an unexpected development that could spare the company from permanently shutting down.
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And its done and over, the union played the hokey pokey with the unemployment line and lost.
…..Ya put your right leg in and make un reasonable demands, ya do the hokey pokey and wave your sign about, and that how you lose your job CLAP_CLAP.....
I saw a piece on CNN about a week ago with one of the striking employees.
The union stance was based upon the employees had about 20% of their income withheld for pension fund that Hostess never put the $ into; the claim was that Hostess essentially was robbing employees.
I don't know the whole story but I can see the anger/frustration if this is true.
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Sad tp say that is very common, pension funds are the last to get paid after a company starts to fail, banks and everyone will get paid first, if there is any left, then a pension might get paid out on a small % of the original.
why you never do company run pension or stock retirement, any conflict of intrest, will mean you lose.
control your own money.
besides pensions, taxes and SS money often doesn't get paid either, but you just don't see a loss as the GOV doesn't make you pay for what they took from your check for that but never sent in.
Last edited by 350X; November 29th, 2012 at 05:16 PM.
Not to mention the executives were giving themselves millions in bonuses while asking the workers to take another pay cut. Love how people say the union was making unreasonable demands without knowing the facts. As far as I can tell, they weren't making demands at all, they just decided they had taken enough crap.
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No more Twinkies, Snowballs, Ho-Hos or Ding Dongs
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