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Twinkies maker Hostess plans to go out of business


rico1
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I was a member of the CWA for 30 years and retired from the phone companies. But how smart is it to strike a company that is already in bankruptcy and almost insolvent and force them to go under?

How does that pay your bills? Isn't it better to have a job than not? I wonder if the union reps still are going to have a job? :twocents:

(Reuters) - Hostess Brands Inc, the bankrupt maker of Twinkies and Wonder Bread, said it had sought court permission to go out of business after failing to get wage and benefit cuts from thousands of its striking bakery workers.

Hostess, which has about $2.5 billion in sales from a long list of iconic consumer brands of snack cakes and breads, said it had suspended operations at all of its 33 plants around the United States as it moves to start liquidating assets.

"We'll be selling the brands and as much of the infrastructure as we can," said company spokesman Lance Ignon. "There is value in the brands."

Hostess said a strike by members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union that began last week had crippled its ability to produce and deliver products at several facilities, and it had no choice but to give up its effort to emerge intact from bankruptcy court.

The Irving, Texas-based company said the liquidation would mean that most of its 18,500 employees would lose their jobs.

Hostess had given employee a deadline to return to work on Thursday, but the union held firm, saying it had already given far more in concessions than workers could bear and that it would not bend further. Union officials blamed mismanagement for the company's woes.

The company, which filed for bankruptcy in January for the second time since 2004, said it had filed a motion with U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain in White Plains, New York, for permission to shut down and sell assets.

Hostess has 565 distribution centers and 570 bakery outlet stores, as well as the 33 bakeries. Its brands include Wonder, Nature's Pride, Dolly Madison, Drake's, Butternut, Home Pride and Merita, but it is probably best known for Twinkies - basically a cream-filled sponge cake.

"We do not have the financial resources to weather an extended nationwide strike," Chief Executive Officer Gregory Rayburn said in a statement. "Hostess Brands will move promptly to lay off most of its 18,500-member workforce and focus on selling its assets to the highest bidders." ID:nPnNY14980]

The company said in court filings that it would probably take about a year to wind down. It will need about 3,200 employees to start that process, but only about 200 after the first few months.

Union President Frank Hurt said the company's failure was not the fault of the union but the "result of nearly a decade of financial and operational mismanagement" and that management was trying to make union workers the scapegoats for a plan by Wall Street investors to sell Hostess.

Hostess said its debtor-in-possession lenders had agreed to allow it to retain access to $75 million to fund the wind-down process.

The company has canceled all orders with its suppliers and said any product in transit would be returned to the shipper.

In its filing with the court, the company said it would have incurred a loss of between $7.5 million and $9.5 million from November 9 to November 19 in lost sales and increased costs.

"These losses and other factors, including increased vendor payment terms contraction, have resulted in a significant weakening of the debtors' cash position and, if continued, would soon result in the debtors completely running out of cash," it said.

Hostess had already reached an agreement on pay and benefit cuts with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, its largest union.

In its January bankruptcy filing, Hostess listed assets of $981.6 million. In a February filing, it assessed the value of its patents, copyrights and other intellectual property at some $134.6 million, although it did not break down the value by brands.

The company's last operating report, filed with the bankruptcy court in late October, listed a net loss of $15.1 million for the four weeks that ended in late September, mostly due to restructuring charges and other expenses.

The case is In re: Hostess Brands Inc, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, No. 12-22052. (Reporting by Tanya Agrawal in Bangalore and Carey Gillam in Kansas City and Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional reporting by Ben Berkowitz in New York; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

© Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Check for restrictions at: http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp

http://money.msn.com...05307&gt1=33009

Edited by rico1
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How does that pay your bills? Isn't it better to have a job than not? I wonder if the union reps still are going to have a job?"

While that logic appears to make sense, what happens when, absent unions, all employers decide that they are going to cut wages significantly? When it effects YOUR job? There is a reason unions came into existence.

"Yes, I understand you can't afford to pay me $30 an hour anymore, so I'll gladly accept that $8 you are offering me. Thank you Mr. Employer!"

Edited by RVPleaseToday
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***///

SHABS - dude, we love you SO much! :P

Snowballs WILL have to save us. ;)

We saw a tv show where they went into an old Twinkie factory that had been closed for years.

The guy that was showing the property opened one of the valves & some

Twinkie-filler squooged out and he ATE IT!

It was STILL GOOD!

Shelf life of plutonium rods...! :lmao: Too, too funny!

Wasn't there an episode of FAMILY GUY where a Twinkie Factory saved them

after armageddon or something, too?

Yup, yer so beautifully twisted its awesome! :D

Edited by SgtFuryUSCZ
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***///

SHABS - dude, we love you SO much! :P

Snowballs WILL have to save us. ;)

We saw a tv show where they went into an old Twinkie factory that had been closed for years.

The guy that was showing the property opened one of the valves & some

Twinkie-filler squooged out and he ATE IT!

It was STILL GOOD!

Shelf life of plutonium rods...! :lmao: Too, too funny!

Wasn't there an episode of FAMILY GUY where a Twinkie Factory saved them

after armageddon or something, too?

Yup, yer so beautifully twisted its awesome! :D

Hahaha.....you said squooged!!!! Have you ladies ever fallen back into a pile of pink snowballs......GLORIOUS (high voice) laugh.gif Wasn't a union rep within 100 feet on that particular adventure.....must have been on his mandatory 7 -1/2 hour break. cool.gif

GO RV, then BV

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Don't worry guys we still have the Ding Dong in the white house :lol:

I was just skyping with my wife back in the states and we were talking about how we love the little hostess donuts that come 6 in a pack I think. And how I like the chocolate dipped ones with my milk. :rolleyes:

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"

While that logic appears to make sense, what happens when, absent unions, all employers decide that they are going to cut wages significantly? When it effects YOUR job? There is a reason unions came into existence.

"Yes, I understand you can't afford to pay me $30 an hour anymore, so I'll gladly accept that $8 you are offering me. Thank you Mr. Employer!"

As I stated in my post I was a union member for 30 years and I am well aware of why unions were needed to correct wrongs that where being done to the working class early last century. My grandfather was a wobbly and a member of the Lincoln brigade if you know your labor history you will understand the kind of family I grew up in. My mom and dad were both union members and we all have walk a picket line.

I doubt that the company was paying $30 dollars an hour and I doubt that they offered $8 an hour to them. I would believe the answer is somewhere in between. my point is that labor sometimes needs to be realistic if they want the company to survive and for all to have a job.

How are they better now on the unemployment line?

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***///

Oh, we've had pink snowball adventures, too, but nothing THAT groovy! :lol:

We're going to look for a coupon, load up & give THAT a try! :P

(does the center in a pink snowball squooge as good as a Twinkie's?) :huh:

Never been able to gnaw my way to the center of a pink snowball.....the coconut sprinkles tickle my nose. I expect the squooge is comparable though. emot-shakehead.gif

GO RV, then pink snowballs dipped in BV emot-drool.gif

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Well I tell ya, I retired from Wonder Bread & Hostess back in 2004 when Wonder went under and they came back in pretty

good shape from Chapter 13, but I got to say the waste those people had was unbelievable they always made 5 times more

product than what was needed, then you have the retail outlets for the day old stuff which sometimes you could do pretty good

also. But to sum it all up they just seemed to have way more people than they really needed, but then you had the computer nurds

that just didn"t get it either, but yes it is a sad day when Hostess goes out, but you haven"t lived till you tip over a rack of Susie Q"s

now that takes the cake!!! :o

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again democrats destroying jobs in america .. yes union workers are democrats .. pricing themselves out of a job .. obama care plays big part in shut down , but striking workers did .. yes its those who stood out front with a sign in their hands and democrat regulations that protect them and no protection for the business owners .. yes that makes me want to run right out and start a business ..

democrats are the main enemy of the economy .. the unions are just pawns .. for a few extra dollars on their paycheck .. they will help destroy america.. i think there should be a boycott on any thing union made

the unions can start their own businesses and raise the rates on themselves .. obama just keeps losing tax dollars he needs to pay for his obama care .. and his dollar keeps shrinking .. yes 18,500 less tax payers on the way .. and all those coroprate taxes down the drain .. ,, i guess that means obama will have to cover that with even higher taxes on the rest .. he will be covering their health care bill too .. as well as 18,500 unemployment checks ...OAH ....BAH...HAH....MAH....OAH...BAH....MAH.... :bravo::cigar:

Edited by dontlop
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It's not just Twinkies and Snowballs... Hostess had a large variety of breads and snack products. Well, chalk another thoughtless action up to the Unions.... they would rather see a plant close down and folks lose their jobs than see themselves not win that ridiculous fight! dry.gif

I guess I better go head to the dentist... gotta get that sweet tooth of mine pulled!!! unsure.gif

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Like I said before...,let the whole damn economy implode then maybe the idiots will wake up!

The whole system is about to collape, come January. And that's what will cause everyone to wake up. EVERYONE will be paying a whole lot more in taxes per year. Everyone, even the bottom 20% will be paying more. We up to our necks in doodoo. Guess I'll go buy a box of twinkles so my lil one can try them. And then her little one can too....some 20+ years from now. :D

With the projections, we (my husband and I) will be paying an extra $800/month in taxes. Which has a snowball effect. I won't shop as much if at all, we won't be eating out, etc. Businesses will start laying off employees....who can't make it without their jobs....it's just a bsad bad bad deal.

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While it is easy to poke fun at the idea of losing our Twinkies, but when you stop and realize that because of demands made by big unions that a bakery icon close their doors places things into a different perspcective. Maybe it is time that the big unions to break up.

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One BUY one, which one next!!! 'Nationalize The Twinkie Industry' Petition Seeks To Save Nation's 'Sweet, Creamy Center' r-NATIONALIZE-TWINKIE-PETITION-large570.jpg?4 ... Posted: 11/16/2012 5:37 pm EST Updated: 11/16/2012 5:40 pm EST

FOLLOW: Video, Hostess, Hostess Bankruptcy, Hostess Brands, Hostess Brands Bankruptcy, Hostess Brands Liquidation, Nationalize Hostess, Nationalize The Twinkie Industry, Nationalize Twinkie Petition, Petition To Nationalize Hostess, Twinkie Petition, Business News

As Hostess Brands fans mourn the potential liquidation of the Twinkie (and Hostess workers face layoffs), others are taking action.

A bizarre brand of petition has been filed with the White House seeking to turn President Obama into the Hugo Chavez of Twinkies.

The petition, titled "Nationalize the Twinkie industry," seeks to turn back the clock on Hostess Brands' going out of business and liquidation.

Hostess Brands manufactures the iconic Twinkie in addition to other famous snack cakes, such as Ding Dongs and Sno Balls. The company has faced a series financial struggles and labor disputes.

But Daniel B. of Kansas City, Mo., aims to be Twinkies' knight in shining (digital) armor. He started the petition, which as of this writing has 600 signatures.

He writes: "We the undersigned, hereby request Barack Obama to immediately Nationalize the Twinkie industry and prevent our nation from losing her sweet creamy center."

The petition needs at least 25,000 signatures by Dec. 16 if it has any chance of earning a response from the White House. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/16/nationalize-twinkie-petition_n_2147058.html?utm_hp_ref=business

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With Hostess shutdown, boxes of Twinkies, Ho Hos going for $100 and more on eBay

After Hostess announced Friday that a protracted labor union battle would force it to close its factories , many red-blooded Americans cowered in fear over the extinction of their beloved Twinkies, Zingers and Ho Hos.

Twinkie junkies are still in luck, however: Boxes of the barely edible snack foods are already selling on eBay.

One box of Twinkies has a starting bid of $49.99, with a “buy it now” price of $89.99.

Screen-shot-2012-11-16-at-1.30.38-PM.png

The description on the item (read as urgently as if you were reading the Titanic disaster telegram): “HOSTESS IS GOING OUT OF BUSINESS SO GET THESE WHILE YOU CAN. STORES ARE ALREADY SEEING THESE FLY OFF THE SHELVES AND SOON YOU WILL PAY A PREMIUM FOR THESE.”

A box of Ho Hos is being sold for $59.99, while a 48-pack of Zingers is going for $43.

One trickster claims to have “the last Twinkie in the heartland” and the single dessert has a starting bid of $50, but you can buy it right now for $5,235.

Other sellers are taking more modest approaches with starting bids from $11 to $15.

The best eBay listing so far comes from a seller who wants to give away his last 10-count box of Twinkies for $595 – but there’s a catch: There are only four cakes left because the seller “got into them this morning.” But how can you go wrong with an expiration date of 12-02-2057?

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