Hostess closing???

[Warhawk1130]

They are asking permission from the courts to close down shop and liquidate their assets due to the ongoing strike.

I suggest everyone buy hostess stuff big-time if you want to keep your goodie fix...I know I will...if they close, those boxes will be worth a good chunk o change...

[n4gix]

I guess it's a good thing that the half-life of a Twinkie is around 1,000 years then... :jump:

[aircav1970]

I guess it's a good thing that the half-life of a Twinkie is around 1,000 years then... :jump:

Lol,I was thinking the same thing.....:cool:

[Jagdflieger]

It means the loss of:

18,500 jobs
33 Factories
500 Outlet stores

The brands are to be sold off, so we'll probably continue to see Twinkies and Hostess Cupcakes, just baked by a different corporation or bakery.

Given the national economy and job situation, you've got to wonder who or if anyone won the labor dispute leading to the dissolution of the Hostess brand.

[aeronca1]

My experience with unions. STUPID leading the DUMB for the most part. Smart move, shut the company down, lose all the jobs. How do these people think?

[gradyhappyg]

Get em while they last!

75629

[Terry]

Maybe it will send a message to other unions demanding more than the companies can pay. Of course nothing can help the post office who's work has dwindled with email but their loses tripled last year to 15 billion!!!!!

[IanHenry]

They are asking permission from the courts to close down shop and liquidate their assets due to the ongoing strike.

I suggest everyone buy hostess stuff big-time if you want to keep your goodie fix...I know I will...if they close, those boxes will be worth a good chunk o change...

Warhawk,
I was wondering what Hostess is?

Regards,
Ian.

[beana51]

....All these people now go on Unemployment,food Stamps,Welfare,.the costs of which those who pay taxes will now be further burdened with...meanwhile one more ICON goes under....Change all right!....No more watching Moon Shots while munching on my TWINKIES,drinking cold chocolate milk!....It was the Bakers Union who did it!....LOOKATCHONOW!!..no Mo DOUGH!!I hope DRAKES CAKES stays with us a while longer...For if DRAKES cakes Yankee Doodles goes ? ...Its All Over!! BUT THE ARUGLIA

[Tako_Kichi]

I was wondering what Hostess is?
Hostess is a US chemical processing company that markets it's products as 'food' but if you read the ingredients list there is very little in there that could be called 'food' in any way, shape or form! :icon_lol:

'Chemical snacks' is probably a good term for what they produce.

[beana51]

Hostess is a US chemical processing company that markets it's products as 'food' but if you read the ingredients list there is very little in there that could be called 'food' in any way, shape or form! :icon_lol:

'Chemical snacks' is probably a good term for what they produce.

Kinnda like HOT DOGS...Corned Beef,Sausage,all meat cold cuts...Yea GET RID OF THEM.......Eating toasted Maggots,Raw Fish, live frogs,wiggly snakes, drinking blood much better for us....Great TV program,"If it looks good, eat it!" is the expression which "Bizarre Foods" host Andrew Zimmern sums up each unique episode with a large grin .....Hey Man its PROTEIN!!...great Change here!!....<label for="rb_iconid_19">http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/images/icons/icon26.gif</label>

[Jagdflieger]

Ian,

Hostess is/was a large conglomerate company that produced many food products. I can't remember a time when there wasn't a Hostess "Twinkie," "Cupcake," or other snack in a lunch box or in a back pack. While I'm not into such sweet snacks, they were/are most popular for all ages here in America. As of today, Hostess is composed of 26 different food brands.

As noted in previous posts, like most processed foods, Hostess used chemicals to add to shelf life and also to perhaps enhance flavor and texture. No different from virtually all other producers of fast foods and packaged foods. I'm sure it's the same in England as it is here in the USA.

That said, for such an Iconic US company to fold up due to a labor dispute at this time in our economic travail is damaging to say the least. As Beana51 notes, the potential cost to the US taxpayer will be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. I just saw on the news that the initial estimate tops 400 million dollars. I'm sure the total cost will far exceed that estimate.

[Willy]

Sometimes the final offer is the final offer

I will admit to the occasional indulgence of a Hostess "Snowball". But when it comes to snack cakes, Lil Debbie is the way to go

Still, I hate it for the people who are now going out of work. Jobs are scarce now. But I'm expecting more big changes with the way companies do business now in order to just stay afloat. A small factory near here just put all of it's hourly employees on part time not to exceed 26 hours a week. I've been told by some that worked there that it was to keep from having to pay health insurance on them.

[IanHenry]

If you had any idea what you were eating, you would probably starve! Bread is one of the worst products, the chemicals that they put into it makes people fat. I like the French system, where such additives are illegal, the French buy fresh bread daily (sometimes several times a day) and it bears no resemblance to the stuff you get in Supermarkets. There are however some people who are fighting back:
http://www.sustainweb.org/realbread/

Regards,
Ian.

[paiken]

Of course nothing can help the post office who's work has dwindled with email but their loses tripled last year to 15 billion!!!!!

That $15 billion is pretty much political vaporware created by congress. They made a requirement that USPS pre-fund their civil service (CSRS) retirement health care 75 years in advance to the tune of $5 billion a year for many years. No other company, private or government, has to fund their retiree healthcare that far in advance or for that much. Fortunately, for now, the post office is being allowed to "skip" the payments until congress re-convenes after the post-election/holiday break and they can fix the problem they created in the first place.

[Dangerousdave26]

If this is true then the cost to the US taxpayer will be substantially lower.


Striking workers are not entitled to unemployment benefits in most states, but those workers who were not striking will likely have some access to weekly benefit checks.

http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/16/news/economy/hostess-jobs/index.html?iid=Lead&hpt=hp_t2

Ouch bet the voting members did not know that when they voted to go on strike.

[Willy]

I'm wondering how deep the pockets are in the Baker's Union emergency fund.

[Terry]

Meanwhile the union bosses sit in their mansions kneading their dough. :a1451:

[dharry]

Sorry for the people affected some of which of whom no doubt will suffer greatly and become inconsolable. My wife was also sad to hear this news as she has a penchant for Ding Dongs after discovering them on our last visit.

[Rami]

Good afternoon,

This makes me extraordinarily sad as well. I freely confess that I am strongly disliked by other teachers because I am willing to drop my salary slightly or cut my raise if it means saving the job of another teacher. I get very angry with unions in situations like this, because to me, a compromise could have prevented all of this in the first place. :birthday2

[Blood_Hawk23]

it will effect all interstate bakeries. so wonderbread, jj nissin's, hostess, and any other brand made by them. we have one of the bakeries here in Maine.

[Allen]

Sad to see it come to this....

[brad kaste]

<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZLiVeRJTtqo" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" width="420" height="315"></iframe>




Long live Hostess Twinkies!!!!!!!!

[brad kaste]

Good afternoon,

This makes me extraordinarily sad as well. I freely confess that I am strongly disliked by other teachers because I am willing to drop my salary slightly or cut my raise if it means saving the job of another teacher. I get very angry with unions in situations like this, because to me, a compromise could have prevented all of this in the first place. :birthday2

Rami,...........you surely hit the nail on the head. My sentiments as well. Some people just tend to be pig headed about it,...now they'll pay the price with a nada job.

[Gdavis101]

My experience with unions. STUPID leading the DUMB for the most part. Smart move, shut the company down, lose all the jobs. How do these people think?

Agreed! The way things are I think keeping the jobs would have been more important than going on a strike. Oh well, Hostess showed them!

[Dangerousdave26]

Oh well, Hostess showed them!

I think it is more appropriate to say the Union Showed them.

As I read earlier today the Union was mad that the Drivers (Teamsters Union) were paid more than the bakers.

They decided to strike to not take a pay cut and increase in cost on benefits.

Later in the day I read the Teamsters Union which had just recently renewed their contract with Hostess had taken concessions because they knew the dire straights the company was in. Apparently the bakers union could not see past the dollar signs. No one was looking to the future of the company only their own bottom line.

What I don't know is did management take cuts. I personally believe you lead by example and everything starts at the top. They may have done it but I have not seen it.

[Allen]

Before this get out of hand....

Maybe the Unions can pool there money and buy Hostess for them selfs...:birthday2

[Kiwikat]

This thread is way too political and should be closed.

I am biting my tongue this time as I value my membership here. SMH.

[Allen]

I've see a report that executives received pay increases up to 300% while in bankruptcy. If it is true they were giving them selfs pay increase that large than it is a save bet that they were "Tanking" Hostess and it wouldn't matter what the Unions did as the executives were/are "robbing" Hostess of evey last dime...

[Dangerousdave26]

I would question that report based on the fact that once in bankruptcy nobody gets anything without the judge agreeing and I don't see the judge doing that.

[Allen]

I haven't found a credible source... That is why I said "If Ture".

[Dangerousdave26]

No problem understood

[ColoKent]

....when I heard the news about Hostess, so I screeched into a convenience store, grabbed a three-pack of chocolate Zingers, and scarfed them down post haste....

Then washed it down with a nice, 32-ounce, chemical-laden Diet-Pepsi...

God, I love this country...

K

[wombat666]

This thread is way too political and should be closed.
I am biting my tongue this time as I value my membership here. SMH.

At the moment it seems to be running along between the 'white lines' and as long as this continues there is no valid reason for closing it.
Play nice people.
:kilroy:

[Warhawk1130]

Its ironic....the twinkee was created during the great depression of the 1930's to offer something sweet for a very low price. You might say it kept poor people in sweets and made the kids happy.

Now that we have gone through the worst recession ever, and approaching a fiscal cliff, the twinkee (and hostess) are going to fade into oblivion.

Anyway, I managed to snatch up two boxes of the new strawberry cupcakes, and two boxes of chocolate twinkees that I have never tried before. Adios, Hostess...thanks for the pies!

[hey_moe]

It is never a good thing to see a large or small company go bankrupt and close it's doors forever. I feel for every employee. At this time of the year it is even worse. I believe this is just the beginning of large companies going down the pooper and filing the last part of this year and next year. As far as unions are concerned to me they are good for only one thing >> taking your money each week, and destroying a company as we have just see. America has become a very cut throat country. Here is a prime example of greed: Walmart, when they come into a town and build if you look what really happened the stores around them end up closing their doors forever. Where I live we have four Walmarts within ten miles of my home...why. Best Buys, look what is happening to them. I know a lot in here don't care for them but they will be gone too due to the under buying by Amazon and other on line companies. In years to come the internet is great but it will be the death of many companies because their is no way retail stores can even come close to beating their prices. The biggest thing that has hurt us was when home building came to just about a stop, that alone affected many companies. If you look at what it takes from start to finish on a home you will understand. What we saw with Hostess is just the beginning of what we will see next year.

[av8erjm]

Your uion dues at work. I would like to see how the actual workers feel or felt. So often when I was still in the work force, I disagreed with what our union was doing, or who they were backing in an election. Unions back in their day were good for the working class, going up against Carneigie, and the others, but today they are just out to line their own pockets. I can't tell how many time they would push for a raise and then turn around and raise dues to nullify it??????? On a sidebar did anyone catch the History channel on ''The men who bulit America'' it was well done and pretty much called in right down the middle

[SSI01]

CSRS is the old federal retirement system, the gold-plated one. Us folks who retired under FERS don't have it anywhere near as good under the new system but we're still thought of as "living large" on our retirement.

Illustrative union story - I used to live in a closed shop state, and worked for a railroad there. Railroads - one of the original union strongholds in this country. I worked a mid shift as an operator-clerk at a yard near a large auto factory. During that shift, a rail broke in the yard. Fortunately nothing tipped over or went on the ground. The crew that was involved came in and told me about it. I kept anything from going in or out of that track until the day shift. No need to call in maintenance of way in the middle of the night for this. I informed my relief of this circumstance, also the agent who ran the office during the day shift when he came in that morning. I also told maintenance of way myself just before going off shift at 8AM. What happens later but a day job shoved some cars down that track and, not having been told about the rail, put one of the cars on the ground (upright, thankfully). There was a disciplinary hearing over this. Even though I was a party to this event, I was not afforded union representation. The individual who relieved me was given a union rep, who promptly placed the blame on me for not briefing my relief about the rail. Though I didn't know it at the time, the hearing officer, who knew my work record, accepted my statement at face value and I was absolved of any fault or blame in this matter. So in my one and only brush with a labor-management dispute while I was a railroad worker, my "benevolent and protective" union tried to get me fired and the "greedy, exploitative" managers were the ones who came through for me. Go figger.

BTW - HM in Hampton, VA is dead on the money. You ain't seen nothin' yet. Watch the first-time unemployment filings skyrocket starting the first week in Dec, plus the no. of folks who will be getting on food stamps. The foreseeable future - at least the next four years, not just next year - does indeed look very dark and grim.

[yank51]

Lots of blame to go around here, not just the unions. While asking workers to take yet another pay cut, upper management saw fit to give themselves big raises, just before the collapse....And, it was not the first pay cut workers took, not by a long shot. Since I personnally don't eat those types of foods (diabetes), I'm not going to miss them too much anyway. Although, I must admit, I did like an occasional Twinkie....

http://www.forbes.com/sites/helaineolen/2012/11/16/who-killed-hostess-brands-and-twinkies/

[Thoe6969]

This thread is way too political and should be closed.

I am biting my tongue this time as I value my membership here. SMH. Let me guess,your a union man.Unions are what killed this country and why china now own us,it's better to make less money and still have jobs,but people are to dumb to see it.

[pfflyers]

As a proud retired union member, it saddens me to read all these posts flaming the unions. Anyone that works a forty hour week with paid overtime, paid holidays, paid sick leave, and paid vacation should thank the next union member they meet. Unions set the standards for workplace safety and decent working conditions. Those who hate unions can go back to working 12 hours a day for a nickel an hour, I'll take my union benefits anytime.

[Terry]

The unions served a great purpose back in the day of the sweatshop. But somewhere around the 1950's they reached a point of diminishing returns by demanding more than the workers were worth. One prime example is an auto worker making $40 hour plus bennys and their trying to sell that car to a person making $10 hour. We saw where that leads us a few years ago.

[Willy]

The union at Goodyear Tire in Union City TN bargained it's way into the plant closing. They kept asking for more and Goodyear finally had enough. The tire company that bought the empty plant won't hire an ex-Goodyear employee.

[gradyhappyg]

All parties share the blame in this the union,management and the employees.
If I understand the procedure correctly the union doesn't ok a strike without a vote from the employees.
It's clear the management needed some better skills as well having had to file bankruptcy twice in a ten year span.

[Allen]

All parties share the blame in this the union,management and the employees.
If I understand the procedure correctly the union doesn't ok a strike without a vote from the employees.
It's clear the management needed some better skills as well having had to file bankruptcy twice in a ten year span.


http://blessthe40oz.com/pics/bears.jpg

[deKoven]

Let me guess,your a union man.Unions are what killed this country and why china now own us,it's better to make less money and still have jobs,but people are to dumb to see it.

Hmm, not really a true statement; the unions DID have a legit function in this country. But like any large corp structure they really got to believing their own propaganda.

And if ya wants good bread learn to make your own. Buy the fixin's and make std bread for about 6 weeks (twice a week is good). At the end of that 6 weeks you'll be a competent baker and will be miles ahead of those corps that make "balloon" bread (it's actually called that.) There is nothing finer that a fresh hot loaf of real bread right from the oven and slathered with butter. Finest kind !!

[aeronca1]

"balloon" bread (it's actually called that.)

All air and no substance?


There is nothing finer that a fresh hot loaf of real bread right from the oven and slathered with butter. Finest kind !!

Can't agree with you more. My wife has been making our bread for many a year now. My daughter still says eating at a friend's house is weird because their bread tastes funny.

[Jagdflieger]

The news media is now reporting that the Teamster's Union is now offering to help out between the Baker's Union and Hostess. Looks like some of the management at the Teamsters are showing a wee bit of common sense.

I didn't realize it, but apparently the 5,000 Bakers' Union members at Hostess are responsible for the projected loss of almost 18,000 jobs that don't belong to the Baker's Union at Hostess. Go figure...

By the way, regarding "balloon bread," my relatives in Europe call American bread: "Gumibrot"

Translation: Rubber bread

[Willy]

It makes sense about the Teamsters. A bunch of their members stand to lose their jobs as well if Hostess folds.

I just read that the bankruptcy judge has ordered Hostess and the Baker's union into more talks.

Went to the grocery store this afternoon and the Hostess products shelves were bare.

[Dangerousdave26]

Yes saw that today Willy

http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/19/news/companies/hostess-bankruptcy-bonuses/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

The Judge has decided they should go to arbitration.

I am not sure how easy that is to do when the company clearly has limited funds.

[Allen]

This may not be the best source but this is one mans stoy form when he started in 1999 to Hostes "Death Bed" If true I can see why the Union don't care if Hostes gone.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/11/18/1162786/-Inside-the-Hostess-Bankery (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/11/18/1162786/-Inside-the-Hostess-Bankery)

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

I just want my lemon pie, chocolate cupcakes and ding dongs! This is a crisis demanding Presidential, Congressional and Supreme Court intervention! :mixedsmi:

-Ed-

PS I actually do like the lemon pie and cupcakes from time to time!

[luckydog]

Hey All,

I just want my lemon pie, chocolate cupcakes and ding dongs! This is a crisis demanding Presidential, Congressional and Supreme Court intervention! :mixedsmi:

-Ed-

PS I actually do like the lemon pie and cupcakes from time to time!

I think the president SHOULD get involved.............he can fix ANYTHING !! :USA-flag:

[yank51]

I think the president SHOULD get involved.............he can fix ANYTHING !! :USA-flag:

BAD DOGGIE!!! Shame on you, you're getting political now.... Go lay down in the corner tonight....:icon_lol:

[TARPSBird]

This may not be the best source but this is one mans stoy form when he started in 1999 to Hostes "Death Bed" If true I can see why the Union don't care if Hostes gone.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/11/18/1162786/-Inside-the-Hostess-Bankery
Sounds like a legit story but I'm a bit suspicious of it coming from a liberal/lefty site like The Daily Kos.

[Allen]

Like I said not the best...

[SSI01]

By the way, regarding "balloon bread," my relatives in Europe call American bread: "Gumibrot"

Translation: Rubber bread

I read somewhere that German POWs brought to the US during WWII were given white bread with their meals. They were so used to that good German dark bread they called our stuff "cake."