Westside Steve Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Nice work bakers Union. They will be laying of thousands of workers because the Baker's Union just couldn't see their way clear to agree with the othr 11 unions company. 1 the of the bones off contention? Allowing bread and cupcakes to be hauled on the same truck. Tell me again about the 8 hour day? WSS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieHardBrownsFan Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Nice work bakers Union. They will be laying of thousands of workers because the Baker's Union just couldn't see their way clear to agree with the othr 11 unions company. 1 the of the bones off contention? Allowing bread and cupcakes to be hauled on the same truck. Tell me again about the 8 hour day? WSS Good going you dumb ass union workers. You force the companies to either move to another country or go bankrupt. Merry Christmas. Hostess to close, cites nationwide worker strike Hostess, the maker of Twinkies and Wonder Bread, plans to go out of business, lay off its 18,500 workers and sell its snack cake and bread brands. The Irving, Texas, company said a nationwide strike crippled its ability to make and deliver its products, which also include Ding Dongs, Ho Ho's and Home Pride bread. Hostess suspended bakery operations at all its factories and said its stores will remain open for several days to sell already-baked products. The company 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. "Many people have worked incredibly long and hard to keep this from happening, but now Hostess Brands has no other alternative than to begin the process of winding down and preparing for the sale of our iconic brands," CEO Gregory F. Rayburn said in a letter to employees posted on the company website. He added that all employees will eventually lose their jobs, "some sooner than others." "Unfortunately, because we are in bankruptcy, there are severe limits on the assistance the (company) can offer you at this time," Rayburn wrote. Thousands of members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union went on strike last week after rejecting in September a contract offer that cut wages and benefits. Hostess said Friday the company is unprofitable "under its current cost structure, much of which is determined by union wages and pension costs." A union representative did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press seeking comment on the company's announcement. Hostess has said 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. Hostess had already reached a contract agreement with its largest union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The company, founded in 1930, was fighting battles beyond labor costs. 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadbrownsfan Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 The bakers union refusal to take the huge cut in wages/benefits for its workers is not what caused the closer, at best it was the final straw that broke the camels back. The company had been in bankruptcy from 2004-2009 and for a second time starting in January of 2012, the union that was striking represented only about 1/3 of the total workforce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieHardBrownsFan Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 The bakers union refusal to take the huge cut in wages/benefits for its workers is not what caused the closer, at best it was the final straw that broke the camels back. The company had been in bankruptcy from 2004-2009 and for a second time starting in January of 2012, the union that was striking represented only about 1/3 of the total workforce. The straw that broke the camels back is what caused the company to go under. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadbrownsfan Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 The straw that broke the camels back is what caused the company to go under. That would be like point at Shurmur as being the reason we only had 2 .500 or better seasons since 2000, that caused Lerner to finally sell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieHardBrownsFan Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 That would be like point at Shurmur as being the reason we only had 2 .500 or better seasons since 2000, that caused Lerner to finally sell. Not even close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heckofajobbrownie Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 The unions are hardly the only problem Hostess is facing. Let's not all blame our favorite boogeyman. Even the CEO has admitted that management did not do a good job. They're also being outcompeted, and their products are old and outdated. It'd be nice if they could figure out a way to continue because there are a lot of people who work there. But honestly, I don't buy any of their stuff and I won't care if they go away. Would you? They're a dinosaur. Dinosaurs often die off in the free market. Old companies that have been around a long time and used to dole out retirement benefits are having the same problems states are having - lots of their money is tied up in paying for a workforce that is no longer working. This is also (one of) the airlines' problem. American and United and Delta have legacy costs that Southwest and Virgin and Jet Blue don't have. Similarly, Hostess has legacy costs that some of its competitors don't have. "In the bankruptcy filing submitted to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York today the company that sugar built cited harsh economic times, strong competition, and overwhelming debt due to pension and medical benefit obligations as its reason for seeking Chapter 11 protection." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumpkin Eater Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Dumbass management, I'm sure the CEO makes 10X what the average worker in the company makes. Probably has a nice golden parachute too. All for running the company into the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadbrownsfan Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/07/26/hostess-twinkies-bankrupt/ Seems the whole thing was a cluster f, and unions had a little bit more to it than I thought(again still not the only problem). The real question is why after 5 years in bankruptcy, where they allowed to exit with more debt then the7 started in 2004 they went into chapter 11 with $450mill in debt when it exited in 2009 it had increased to $650mill(this was with the unions agreeing to about a $110mill in cuts). And I would imagine it would be pretty hard to convince union workers to take an additional 8% pay cut with this happening: "Even as it played the numbers game, Hostess had to face chaos in the corner office at the worst possible time. Driscoll, the CEO, departed suddenly and without explanation in March. It may have been that the Teamsters no longer felt it could trust him. In early February, Hostess had asked the bankruptcy judge to approve a sweet new employment deal for Driscoll. Its terms guaranteed him a base annual salary of $1.5 million, plus cash incentives and "long-term incentive" compensation of up to $2 million. If Hostess liquidated or Driscoll were fired without cause, he'd still get severance pay of $1.95 million as long as he honored a noncompete agreement. When the Teamsters saw the court motion, Ken Hall, the union's secretary-treasurer and No. 2 man, was irate. So much, he thought, for what he described as Driscoll's "happy talk" about "shared sacrifice." Hall says he tracked Driscoll down by phone and told him, "If you don't withdraw this motion, these negotiations are done." Hostess withdrew the motion a few weeks later when Driscoll left -- the same Driscoll who, Hostess told the court in its motion, was "key" to "reestablishing" Hostess's "competitive position going forward." Abbott and Costello couldn't have made this stuff up if they'd gone to Wharton. The board replaced Driscoll with Greg Rayburn, a restructuring expert Hostess had hired as a consultant only nine days earlier. Rayburn was a serial turnaround specialist who had worked with such high-profile distressed businesses as WorldCom, Muzak Holdings, and New York City Off-Track Betting. He became Hostess's sixth CEO in a decade. Within a month of taking over, Rayburn had to preside over a public-relations fiasco. Some unsecured creditors had informed the court that last summer -- as the company was crumbling -- four top Hostess executives received raises of up to 80%. (Driscoll had also received a pay raise back then.) The Teamsters saw this as more management shenanigans. "Looting" is how Hall described it in TV interviews" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaporTrail Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 I, for one, would have figured that this country is obese enough to sustain Hostess' business model (no matter what it is). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heckofajobbrownie Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 They should try selling food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cysko Kid Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 I, for one, would have figured that this country is obese enough to sustain Hostess' business model (no matter what it is). Well the Chinese make terrible pastries cheaper so there's that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieHardBrownsFan Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Well the Chinese make terrible pastries cheaper so there's that. Yep. They might even put ethylene glycol in it to kill us off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosar_For_President Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Is this the Browns Board? There are no "it's Obama's fault" posts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heckofajobbrownie Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 It's not Barack Obama's fault. It's Michelle Obama's fault! With her healthy food promoting UN agenda, something, something, MichelleMao. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Browns149 Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 " and their products are old and outdated " I didn't think a Twinkie could be outdated? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heckofajobbrownie Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Ha. Yes, there's nothing in there to decompose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calfoxwc Posted November 17, 2012 Report Share Posted November 17, 2012 Corp America management AND the unions are two destructive forces these days, ...all too often. Look at Goodyear. Management sucked, overreached, unions changed into fair and decent treatment of employees, to blackmail, entitlement and permanet job security no matter what and self-perpetuating excesses. You can't keep or make good management with a union, and you can't avoid a union with good management.. Go look at Richard Trumke sp? - AFL-CIO, to see where too many major unions have gone off the deep end. And, Hostess chocolate cupcakes should be forever. Just not eaten very often. But they are great with coffee once in a long while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Browns149 Posted November 17, 2012 Report Share Posted November 17, 2012 I always liked Twinkies with chocolate milk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Browns149 Posted November 17, 2012 Report Share Posted November 17, 2012 Are the bakers only striking against hostess? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westside Steve Posted November 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2012 Are the bakers only striking against hostess? not any more. The company is out of business. WSS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cysko Kid Posted November 17, 2012 Report Share Posted November 17, 2012 I think the nail in their coffin was making golden cupcakes. Who the f wants golden cupcakes? They're disgusting. Only chocolate cupcakes will do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westside Steve Posted November 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2012 My personal favorite of all that garbage is the Saint Patrick's Day green hostess snowball! WSS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westside Steve Posted November 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Browns149 Posted November 17, 2012 Report Share Posted November 17, 2012 not any more. The company is out of business. WSS so they are striking against Little Debbie too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westside Steve Posted November 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2012 so they are striking against Little Debbie too? Why? As far There were other unions involved but they settled, only the Baker's held out. Seems to me that Little Debbie cakes are located in the South, possibly a right to work state. And the company probably is a dinosaur, even though I don't know if that makes them expendable. I mean those people could actually use the jobs, right? WSS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Browns149 Posted November 17, 2012 Report Share Posted November 17, 2012 Why? As far There were other unions involved but they settled, only the Baker's held out. Seems to me that Little Debbie cakes are located in the South, possibly a right to work state. And the company probably is a dinosaur, even though I don't know if that makes them expendable. I mean those people could actually use the jobs, right? WSS The reason I was asking, why haven't other companies gone under due to this strike? And I looked it up and Little Debbie is located in Tenn. And it is a privately owned company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballpeen Posted November 17, 2012 Report Share Posted November 17, 2012 so they are striking against Little Debbie too? McKee Bakery (Little Debbie) is headquartered in Collegedale, Tn, about 15 miles from where I live. They are non-union. McKee was the largest snack cake baker in the country. Hostess had a little more in sales but that included the sale of Wonder Bread. McKee is nothing but snack cakes and granola bars. The local article is McKee is ramping up production. http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/nov/17/mckee-ramps-up-amid-hostess-fall/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammertime Posted November 20, 2012 Report Share Posted November 20, 2012 The 82-year-old Hostess wants permission to pay senior management a bonus of up to 75 percent of their annual pay so they will stay on and help wind-down the business. how convenient for a business hell bent on blaming their failures on the bakers union. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westside Steve Posted November 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2012 It's still the unions. you can take every penny from every corporate executives and put it back into the company and it really wouldn't change things. It's just an easy thing to get riled up over like congressional pay. Or welfare, it's not that big a portion of the budget. WSS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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