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it's always dinner time.
Columbus Underground Messageboard » General Columbus Discussion » Shopping
Maker of Twinkies and Hostess asks to Liquidate
[69 posts] [27 contributors]
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groundrules
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Posted 6 months ago # -
Patch
Schumacher Place
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M.O. said:
They'll get scooped up cheap and we can still have our diabetes. I've always wanted to be a fly on the wall when these unions who spend months telling the membership to "hang tough ... company's just bluffing" have to face their newly unemployed charges.+1
Of course the union reps job is never on the line, so its easy for him to be aloof in situations like this.
On NPR I heard one worker say that he wouldn't be able to live with 10% pay cut, and I couldn't help but wonder if he thought how it will be to live with an 100% paycut.
I can't imagine that the workers are so highly skilled that they are being hounded by head hunters for new jobs...
Posted 6 months ago # -
lifeontwowheels
Highland West
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Wonder how much a box would sell on eBay?
Posted 6 months ago # -
rosebush
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I remember reading a really good book about Charlie Manson, and a memorable bit from one of his girl disciples (when she first met him) being: 'he pulled up in an old delivery van and gave me a Twinkie and then boy did he take me on some wild ride.' That's pretty interesting versatility for a mere baked good..
Posted 6 months ago # -
News
Columbus Underground
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Twinkies Likely to Survive Sale of Hostess
By Associated PressNov. 18, 20120
Twinkie lovers, relax. The tasty cream-filled golden spongecakes are likely to survive, even though their maker will be sold in bankruptcy court. Hostess Brands Inc., baker of Wonder Bread as well as Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Ho Ho’s, will be in a New York bankruptcy courtroom Monday to start the process of selling itself.
READ MORE: http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/11/18/twinkies-likely-to-survive-sale-of-hostess/Posted 6 months ago # -
geoyui
West Side
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Here's a rundown written in July on Hostess' financial situation. I've been disconnected over this past weekend, but my newsfeed seemed to indicate the union was getting the full blame for Hostess' bankruptcy. While the union was part of the problem, they were not the full reason (and they tried to be part of the solution).
Hostess was able to exit bankruptcy in 2009 for three reasons. The first was Ripplewood's equity infusion of $130 million in return for control of the company (it currently owns about two-thirds of the equity). The second reason: substantial concessions by the two big unions. Annual labor cost savings to the company were about $110 million; thousands of union members lost their jobs. The third reason: Lenders agreed to stay in the game rather than drive Hostess into liquidation and take whatever pieces were left. The key lenders were Silver Point and Monarch. Both are hedge funds that specialize in investing in distressed companies -- whether you call them saviors or vultures depends on whether you're getting fed or getting eaten.
Posted 6 months ago # -
bastardsuperstar
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Posted 6 months ago # -
buckette13
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Posted 6 months ago # -
rus
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geoyui said:
Here's a rundown written in July on Hostess' financial situation. I've been disconnected over this past weekend, but my newsfeed seemed to indicate the union was getting the full blame for Hostess' bankruptcy. While the union was part of the problem, they were not the full reason (and they tried to be part of the solution).I think it's fair to say previous iterations of management were part of the problem. It's also fair to say the Teamsters were willing to work with management.
However the deal was 25% ownership of the company, $100,000,000 worth of corporate bonds and a seat on the board of directors in exchange for wage and work rule concessions. The Teamsters looked at the books and took the deal; the Bakers union refused any compromise, even when the Teamsters pointed out that this would force Hostess to liquidate.
I don't think it's fair to say the Bakers union tried to be part of the solution. If anything, they seem at least as mismanaged as previous iterations of management.
They do seem to have done one thing: make right to work states even more attractive for new manufacturing concerns.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Bear
The woods
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Did Congress kill the Twinkie? The tariff tale behind the Hostess demise.
So far, Big Labor has gotten the brunt of criticism for the demise of Hostess, since the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers ,and Grain Millers union refused, despite warnings from fellow union heads, to return from strike at some 20 facilities nationwide. That forced CEO Gregory Rayburn to declare, after two rounds of bankruptcy proceedings, that “it’s over.”
Yet as the political recriminations echo amid news of 18,500 lost jobs in an already sluggish economy, some economists suggest that Americans shift their blame from Big Labor to the role Congress might have played in writing the Twinkies’ obituary.
And that, economists say, may come down to one sweet little word: sugar.
Since 1934, Congress has supported tariffs that benefit primarily a few handful of powerful Florida families while forcing US confectioners to pay nearly twice the global market price for sugar.
One telling event: When Hostess had to cut costs to stay in business, it picked unions, not the sugar lobby, to fight.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Mister Shifter
Lewis Center
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Jman4ever
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Bear said:
Did Congress kill the Twinkie? The tariff tale behind the Hostess demise.
So far, Big Labor has gotten the brunt of criticism for the demise of Hostess, since the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers ,and Grain Millers union refused, despite warnings from fellow union heads, to return from strike at some 20 facilities nationwide. That forced CEO Gregory Rayburn to declare, after two rounds of bankruptcy proceedings, that “it’s over.”
Yet as the political recriminations echo amid news of 18,500 lost jobs in an already sluggish economy, some economists suggest that Americans shift their blame from Big Labor to the role Congress might have played in writing the Twinkies’ obituary.
And that, economists say, may come down to one sweet little word: sugar.
Since 1934, Congress has supported tariffs that benefit primarily a few handful of powerful Florida families while forcing US confectioners to pay nearly twice the global market price for sugar.
One telling event: When Hostess had to cut costs to stay in business, it picked unions, not the sugar lobby, to fight.
Do we know Hostess didn't ask for concessions from Big Sugar?
I would assume they did.Having been through the process once, I know our most significant vendor refused to negotiate terms and if anything tried and got preferential treatment from the courts.
Posted 6 months ago #
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