This Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012, file photo, shows Hostess Twinkies in a studio in New York. ( AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
The Irving, Texas, company said a nationwide worker strike crippled its ability to make and deliver its products. Its brands also include Ding Dongs, Ho Ho's and Dolly Madison.
Hostess 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."
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 had already reached a contract agreement with its largest union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
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.
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.
Fairly recently, some "higher ups" received and 80% payraise and they still have enough money to give themselves large bonuses. Does this sound like a failing company? They've also stated that no company has shown an interest in purchasing their product lines. This is a total fabrication. They've had offers and refused.
This is just an attempt to bust up the union and in 3 to 6 months, they'll re open and start producing twinkies again.
The unions had already agreed to 110 million dollars in man hours earlier this year and then Hostess got greedy and demanded more, after the unions had met their demands.
If you want to place the blame...
Blame the execs or sucking up the profits with huge bonuses. Blame everyone in the marketing department and everyone who played a role in the decision making process. They continued to lose money on less popular products when they should have put their focuses on more popular items.
Another thing that played a role in the closing is the federal goverment came to them and said, your pensions are underfunded. Fix the issue or we'll take them. They told many companies this after telling some just several years earlier that they were over funded.
No sour grapes here ,btw. I landed the job of my dreams soon after.
Sara Lee/Hillshire Farms needs to put some of their employees out .You know who you are, Uni-brow and Wiccan Princess.
Oh,sorry,...You CAN'T because of the UNION.
Hope to see Sara Lee go the way of the Twinkie.
Also, we can strike against companies, tax those evil wealthy people, regulate peoples behavior to what we want, etc... Smart people adjust. Eventually lazy people will have to be responsible for themselves. Hostess is adjusting.
Although labor unions were a good thing a few short decades ago, they are now nothing more than a money making venture out to protect the lazy workers and the ones who can't or won't conform to company rules and policies.
Is the union going to help these displaced workers feed their families? Are they going to provide them with health care? At some point you have to unitize common sense and say something is better than nothing.