Hostess gets OK to begin winding down business
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) - A bankruptcy court judge is approving a request by Hostess Brands Inc. to begin winding down its operations.
The ruling came Wednesday after the maker of Twinkies and Ding Dongs failed in last-ditch negotiations to end a strike by its second-largest union.
Hostess now has the green light to terminate the jobs of its 18,000 workers and sell off its brands.
In court Wednesday, Hostess said it needed to begin the liquidation process quickly to take advantage of outside interest in its brands, which a banker said could fetch up to $2.4 billion. That's about how much they generate in annual sales.
Hostess, based in Irving, Texas, has been spending about $1 million a day in payroll without any income since it halted operations last week.
The ruling came Wednesday after the maker of Twinkies and Ding Dongs failed in last-ditch negotiations to end a strike by its second-largest union.
Hostess now has the green light to terminate the jobs of its 18,000 workers and sell off its brands.
In court Wednesday, Hostess said it needed to begin the liquidation process quickly to take advantage of outside interest in its brands, which a banker said could fetch up to $2.4 billion. That's about how much they generate in annual sales.
Hostess, based in Irving, Texas, has been spending about $1 million a day in payroll without any income since it halted operations last week.
Best solution would be to take the 18,000 union workers, ask for half of them that will quit the union, work like they appreciate having a job (twice as hard as some union workers) and then do the work of twice as many [union] workers, take the other half's paychecks while your at it, and the company would prosper with half the crew and the employees would be glad to have a job.
So this is how it works. You can be lazy in school and not be qualified to do any other job but make Twinkies. Then you can unionize and demand more money for your expert Twinkie skills.Â
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Oh wait a minute it didn't work this time.. nevermind.
Although I agree that the union should have reconsidered the company's offer - after all, any job is better than no job - one also has to find fault with businesses who give out huge bonuses to their CEOs and then complain they aren't making enough money to survive and then sell off the spoils to China or some other off-shore company. I know it is called capitalism but where are our social values and ethics these days. Huge corporations certainly don't have them. The bottom line for them is the almighty dollar and the middle-class worker be damned. If Papa John could make his pizzas in China and ship them overnight to sell them here, he would. Then he would still be a millionaire without having to deal with health insurance for his employees. Sad state of affairs. But it sure makes for good fodder for Fox News who just love to blame everyone else than corporate greed.Â
 @peckishpete Mostly valid points Pete. But anybody, including myself, could have made the decision early in life to study harder than the others in school, do a better than expected job wherever they worked starting at Burger King or picking berries etc.. and intentionally work harder than the next person, then they might be that high paid CEO or company owner raking in the huge dollars. I didn't because I'm too lazy to work that hard, and I blame only myself. What's everyone else's excuse? My brothers have a lot more than I do, because they work a hell of a lot harder than I do...
Hey, WTG, Union... what a great early Christmas gift to all those Hostess workers..! Â Â Must make you feel really good, knowing that you didn't back down...Â
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And you corporate execs at Hostess & whoever owns you... all those bonuses and huge raises, taken as soon as you could see what was happening with the union, your product sales, etc... you just grabbed whatever you could and let the rest go on over the cliff... hope you feel really good about yourselves... But hey, you'll make everything OK again, won't you...because you can sell off the BRANDS - probably overseas somewhere - which will be fine for you... just don't even think about those 18,000+ workers who now don't have jobs...just in time for Christmas...
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I love this country...but I sure hate what has happened to it...Â
 @margay1 Blame Obaminomics and Obamacare. it is going to get alot worse over the next 4 years. Just think of the thousands of servicemen and women that will be hitting the unemployment lines.
This is a win-win for the union.
An early Merry Christmas present to the union members from the union leaders.
Losers. Now the union scum has plenty of time to join their other union sycophant business bleeders at Walmart tomorrow. These are Obama's people, hell with America, we want "our" raise or we'll strike.Â
and now ho many more will lose there mortgages because they can no longer pay the banks? how many more will now become homeless as they lose there Jobs? Yeah, indeed it is the little people that do all the work that will suffer.
 @lee986321 Actually this is a capitalist economy. Those who are willing to work for a wage can find work. Except most of the liberals out there want handouts not wages. Case in point ,this union when  faced with losing jobs because they were stubborn, got a second chance to keep jobs and they pissed it away . Yes the hostess items survive under new ownershipon but the jobs the greedy unions wanted are gone.Â
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As for mortgages If you are stupid enough to not read the fine print or decide to live up to youyr obligations , you get what you deserve.
Dealy beloved, we gather here to day, in moment of silence for the impossible has happened, the snack that could survive anything be it earth quake, nuclear bomb, flood, drought, hurricane, Mount St Helens eruption or typhoon, it has survived it all, but greed , that is what killed this mega snack...(Plays Taps) ...
@lee986321 I know you are being facetious, but there is some truth to your post. Greed is a awful powerful force.
@lee986321 "Believe it or not, Twinkies have an expiration date. Some day very soon, Life's little Twinkie gauge is gonna go... empty." "Oh, this Twinkie thing, it ain't over yet." - Tallahassee, Zombieland.
The brand will be purchased, Twinkies will once again be made, and we will continue to wallow in their creamy filling.
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Now we are all stuck with cheap Chinese twinkie knockoffs.
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 @Repoman lol, as opposed to the previously high quality product.Â
And the Union beats the drum of victory " Now we can all live off the government without having to work like the other millions of people in the US" Good job Union schmuck's. Way to win one for the team.