R.I.P. Ding Dong, Twinkie, Sno Ball, etc.
 

Hostess bites the dust.
18,500 union members out of work.

http://www.hostessbrands.com/Closing.aspx

Once again, incompetent management costs workers jobs.

Regards,

D-Ray

Maybe it was Michelle's healthy eating campaign.:rolleyes:

Are they really going under? Or will they outsource production? Hard to fathom no more Hostess twinkies....has there been a big decrease in sales? Has stock fallen? I can tell you the trademark is not going anywhere.

Everybody remembers that stuff fondly, but nobody eats it anymore. If anyone here has any interest in what comprises modern processed food, there's a book that analyzes all the ingredients of a Twinkie. It's actually a very interesting read.

I tried a twinkie a few months ago out of curiousity, it just wasn't very good.

Hohos on the other hand....

Pete

You a ho-ho eatin' foo?

We have a local bakery that makes some very nice bread(s), none of that white flannel WonderBread, makes you wonder what was in it.

Sometimes eb :)

Rob I try (when I can afford it) a good bread, a buttermilk bread. Hard to go back to Wonderbread!

Pete

Good bread is hard to find. Even the Breadsmith chain by us is hit and miss. One visit they will have a good sourdough and the next visit it's like they underbaked the loaves. They have no process control or bakers intuition whatsoever.

There is a small Italian bakery by mom's house. Sometimes she brings bread from there and it always good.

More info...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-1...er-strike.html

Some balance in that report. I would have liked to see it include the levels of executive compensation, though. It's hard to see a company go through two bankruptcies in four years and conclude that it is all the unions' fault.

Regards,

D-Ray

Here are managment's and unions' statements on the situation.

Management: http://www.hostessbrands.com/Closing.aspx

Union: http://bctgm.org/

I really love those lemon pies.

John

I forgot all about the pies.

During college they were common breakfast fare for me.

Depends on where you live. In Northern California there are artisan bakeries everywhere. Very good breads and they're often sold by the big chains like Safeway and Ralph's.

John

The east side of metro Detroit is like that. That is where the Italians and Poles live. They take their food seriously. The west side has a large Jewish population and they take their food seriously too.

I am on the north side which is basicly white collar honkies. They don't take their food seriously at all. The food situation here reminds me of the ending of Goodfellas -- order spaghetti and marina and you end up with egg noodles and ketchup.

That was my initial thought. Maybe Grupo Bimbo will buy them up since they seem to own quite a number of brands. Those folks shrunk my Entenmann's chocolate covered donuts I've been purchasing for 30 years. Between the shrink ray and Michelle, I'm going to need to order wholesale quantities.:)

Once again a corporation managers use the business as an ATM machine. Then try and spin it as the Unions fault once the money is gone.

No matter how much the workers would of gave back the same thing was going to happen. Just the pr**ks at the top running the show would of received more satisfaction in pulling the strings a little longer. Making the lowly serfs dance to a tune, laughing all way to the bank!




Barney

Find some ex pat French(GASP) bakers for bread and you'll never go back. C'est Cie Bon in my neighborhood.:)

They will sell off the brands and teh stockholders will be fine. It is only the workers that are screwed.

I hope Little Debbie is safe.....


I heard overheard some Marines today saying "Obama" and "18,500" earlier today at work....I did not get the rest of it but once I read this post I knew what they were talking about. I imagine they are blaming Obama for this....please...

Yeah the workers will be screwed and the trademark will go to a Chinese cupcake factory...soon the twinkie boxes will say made in china....

Meanwhile the Pension Benefit Guarantee Agency is going bankrupt as all these corporations are allowed by crooked judges to duck their responsibilities.:rolleyes:

Bankruptcy law defines the priority order that people get paid. Stockholders are at the bottom of the list. From memory the order goes something like this.

1) Lawyers
2) Lenders after bankruptcy filing and taxes
3) Unsecured creditors and employees
4) Shareholders

Secured creditors get whatever asset(s) was pledged as security.

In most cases there is not enough money to pay everyone. Unsecured creditors usually get pennies on the dollar and shareholders get diddly squat.

Here is the bakers union statement mirrored on the AFL-CIO web site:

http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/Corporate...-in-the-Making

Sounds like they were Bained.:mad:

I think it has more to do with them making products people no longer want. Thankfully, the American palate has advanced a bit since Hostess first introduced these fat pills.

“Hostess failed because its six management teams over the last eight years were unable to make it a profitable, successful business enterprise. Despite a commitment from the company after the first bankruptcy that the resources derived from the workers’ concessions would be plowed back into the company, this never materialized. Management refused to invest in modernizing its bakeries or devote necessary resources to advertising and marketing, product development and new technology. Business plan after business plan failed, leaving the company ever deeper in debt.
“When a highly-respected financial consultant, hired by Hostess, determined earlier this year that the company’s business plan to exit bankruptcy was guaranteed to fail because it left the company with unsustainable debt levels, our members knew that the massive wage and benefit concessions the company was demanding would go straight to Wall Street investors and not back into the company.
“Our members were aware that while the company was descending into bankruptcy and demanding deep concessions, the top ten executives of the company were rewarding themselves with lavish compensation increases, with the then CEO receiving a 300 percent increase." From AFL CIO link EBacon provided

Looks like Bained to me.

The union statement says that product development was one of the areas where management failed.

Chrysler went through the same problem when Bob Eaton took over during the 1990s. He was a bean counter, not a product guy. Each time that we had to make a decision on whether to tool a new product his knees would give out and he would pull the plug on the program. A few years later Chrysler was still building the same cars as it was when Iacocca retired and it was no longer competitive. That's when it started to die out and Daimler bought it.

Bob Eaton the weasel walked away from deal with something like $90M in his pockets. He is living lavishly down in Florida as an award for selling out. What a pud.

Let's see if Bob Eaton has written any books about his so-called leadership. Hmmm. Nope. The bean counting bastard probably can't even put a sentence together.

How about books by Lee Iacocca. Yup.

Where Have All the Leaders Gone (Written during the Bush administration :) )
Talking Straight


I wonder if Mitt Romney wrote any books. Hmmm. Oh lookey, he deed, he deed! Wonder whut da puddy twat wote!

Here is one that bashes Obama.
No Apology - A Case for American Greatness
Dat's all der is fom da Womney!

As if we need a book that argues in favor of greatness. What a dumbass.

Neocons are an embarrassment to the nation.

Hostess was sold to two hedge funds and a private equity firm. Some say a vulture capitalist firm was also involved. The first thing they did was drive down wages and benefits for the workers. This triggered the strike. The union is now busted and we are on the hook for their pensions. I would be less than surprised if they go back into full production after the bankruptcy using non-union workers working for poverty wages.

This crap has got to stop. It may not be illegal but it is highly unethical. I can't imagine what goes through the amoral, narcissistic minds of people like Romney. They care about nothing but themselves.

BTW, you don't have to be a lawyer to handle bankruptcies. You do have to know what you are doing though.

You have to be a lawyer to represent clients in bankruptcy court. Can we agree on that? :)

It depends on how it proceeds. All the paperwork and the forms can be prepared by a non-lawyer. If the case goes into AP you would have to be represented by a lawyer.

What a country!

http://www.ebay.com/sch/?_nkw=twinki...d=412319860381

John

What a lucky break for these workers. Now they will have the opportunity to start their own businesses, and with the shelf space now vacated by Hostess, they'll have a good shot at getting their products out there.
Obama has created such a great climate for them too- lower taxes, no worries about healthcare coverage, small biz incentives.
I'm sure they are highly skilled, just needed to get out from under the lousy management.:rolleyes:

Maybe Grupo Bimbo will end up being a "white knight", buy Hostess and keep the company going. Then those union slugs would be working for a bunch of beaners. That would teach 'em, right?


Read the news. That's EXACTLY the problem.

John

We are under Bush era (REPUBLICAN) tax rates duh....it must suck be a Tea Party guy now. Oh I did not thank you guys for your role in the re-election of the President. Just keep on nominating clowns and witches so it is easier for us liberals to win at the general election THANKS!;)

Obie lowered taxes like 13 or 19 times, didn't you hear him?
Truthfully, I gotta tell ya, I'm ok with another 4 years of Obie. I kinda wish the Dems woulda taken the house. Then maybe a third party would have a chance in 2016 or 2020.
I'm in the most recession proof spot in the nation, bring it on.

This would be a third party to the right of the Republicans? With its ideology firmly rooted in Tea Party "principles? No doubt with "Mama Grizzly" as their leader?

Good luck with that.

Rooting for the suffering of others for political gain?

"Uniquely American".

John

I hate to break it to you Wasi but your Bitter Tea Party ain't got a slushball's chance in Somalia chance of winning shit in the midterms coming up and down the road in '16, '20, '24 and '30. Go fornicate with a moose, pally. You have more of a chance with that than winning squat in any election.;) Sour grapes make for sour whine...Baaaaaaa.:)

Yeah it is wrong to paint you with a tea party brush, but on the other hand you are sort of painting those union guys, many of whom probably work real hard, with a broad brush.

There is no such thing as recession proof brother.