Hostess threatens closure if strike continues

Updated: 11/19/2012 4:44 pm | Published: 11/14/2012 2:51 pm

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Hostess Twinkies (Larry D. Moore, Interstate Bakeries Corporation)

IRVING, TEXAS (ABC 4 News) - Hostess Brands Inc. announced today that it will file a motion with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Friday to liquidate the entire Company if enough striking employees do not return to work by Thursday.

The strikes were called on November 9 by the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Union (BCTGM).

The strike stems from a fight over wage and benefit cuts as Hostess restructured from a recent bankruptcy. The bakers’ union condemned the cuts and also rejected the company’s restructuring plan.

The bakers’ union said on their website, "If Hostess emerges from bankruptcy under its present plan, it will still have too much debt, too high costs and not enough access to cash to stay in business for the long term."

Gregory F. Rayburn, the Hostess' Chairman and CEO said the company cannot survive a strike and stated, "if sufficient employees do not return to work by 5 p.m., EST, on Thursday to restore normal operations, we will be forced to immediately move to liquidate the entire Company, which will result in the loss of nearly 18,000 jobs. It is now up to Hostess' BCTGM represented employees and Frank Hurt, their international president, to decide if they want to call off the strike and save this Company, or cause massive financial harm to thousands of employees and their families."

Hostess said that if employees do not return to work by the deadline, the liquidation timeline below will begin:

Hostess will file a motion with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Friday, November 16, 2012 requesting to wind-down the Company and sell all of its assets;
Hostess has requested a hearing on the motion for Monday, November 19, 2012;
If the motion is granted at this hearing, Hostess Brands will begin to close all of its operations as early as Tuesday, November 20. The closures will include the termination of all employees except small, temporary crews to clean, secure and prepare facilities and other assets for sale.

This liquidation would result in a the closure of the Hostess plant in Ogden and result in the loss of 580 jobs locally and 17,780 nationwide.

Stay tuned to ABC 4 news and abc4.com for the latest developments.

-- Information provided by Hostess

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Ubetcha - 11/15/2012 2:20 PM

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Note to "blessedfamily8": I guess all your talk will be a moot point after 18,000 employees are laid off and Hostess is closed. I guess it's better not to have a job at all than to stay with the one you feel is treating you so unfairly and giving you time to look for a "better" one. I guess it's okay for a handful of hard-line union workers to drag down 18,000 fellow employees and put them out of work just to make a point. I guess it's better to shut down Hostess today rather than give it a chance to survive so it can keep sending 18,000 employees home with paychecks. The union will accomplish nothing more than harming 18,000 workers and their families across the nation and making Hostess Brands a martyred company. This will mean the next time they call a strike against the next company asking for consessions, those employees will say "heck no, I remember what happened to Hostess." If you are actually a Hostess employee and not just a union rep trying to sway the public for your own gain while you throw your union members under the bus, good luck finding your next job. With the obvious intellegence you're displaying I'm sure you'll go far. Happy Holidays!

blessedfamily8 - 11/15/2012 4:36 AM

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Some more FYI for all the readers...Baker's Union Worker's did not CAUSE any of this. It was mismanagement by HOSTESS itself. Baker's were the only ones strong enough to stand up to the company and say "NO MORE!!" They are tired of paying money out of their hard earned pay to fix the bankruptcy problems that had NOTHING to do with them. They are tired of losing benefits for something THEY DID NOT CAUSE! On another side note, out of the 3 buildings and workers who have already lost their jobs, 2 of those buildings were being closed anyway before any of this took place. That was ALWAYS the plan. It had NOTHING to do with the strike!! In fact, the plant in Cincinnati was closed because the city is putting a new highway in and that plant was in the way. The city said it had to be closed....AGAIN, JUST A LITTLE FYI FOR ALL READERS.

sassysister74 - 11/14/2012 6:17 PM

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Out of the 36 ( now 33) Hostess bakery employees, only 30% are union. It is those union members that are singlehandedly taking out over 18,000 jobs!It is also worth clarifying that the Teamsters union, which represents most of the Route Drivers, voted to accept the offer and are not striking. In addition, Utah has to bakeries: SLC and Ogden and you failed to mention SLC as another one closing. Just some FYI for all the readers.....

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