All Over For Hostess
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The straw that broke the camels back is what caused the company to go under.
That would be like point at Shurmur as being the reason we only had 2 .500 or better seasons since 2000, that caused Lerner to finally sell.
That would be like point at Shurmur as being the reason we only had 2 .500 or better seasons since 2000, that caused Lerner to finally sell.
Not even close.
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The unions are hardly the only problem Hostess is facing. Let's not all blame our favorite boogeyman. Even the CEO has admitted that management did not do a good job. They're also being outcompeted, and their products are old and outdated.
It'd be nice if they could figure out a way to continue because there are a lot of people who work there. But honestly, I don't buy any of their stuff and I won't care if they go away. Would you? They're a dinosaur. Dinosaurs often die off in the free market.
Old companies that have been around a long time and used to dole out retirement benefits are having the same problems states are having - lots of their money is tied up in paying for a workforce that is no longer working.
This is also (one of) the airlines' problem. American and United and Delta have legacy costs that Southwest and Virgin and Jet Blue don't have. Similarly, Hostess has legacy costs that some of its competitors don't have.
"In the bankruptcy filing submitted to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York today the company that sugar built cited harsh economic times, strong competition, and overwhelming debt due to pension and medical benefit obligations as its reason for seeking Chapter 11 protection."
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Dumbass management, I'm sure the CEO makes 10X what the average worker in the company makes. Probably has a nice golden parachute too. All for running the company into the ground.
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http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/07/26/hostess-twinkies-bankrupt/
Seems the whole thing was a cluster f, and unions had a little bit more to it than I thought(again still not the only problem). The real question is why after 5 years in bankruptcy, where they allowed to exit with more debt then the7 started in 2004 they went into chapter 11 with $450mill in debt when it exited in 2009 it had increased to $650mill(this was with the unions agreeing to about a $110mill in cuts). And I would imagine it would be pretty hard to convince union workers to take an additional 8% pay cut with this happening:
"Even as it played the numbers game, Hostess had to face chaos in the corner office at the worst possible time. Driscoll, the CEO, departed suddenly and without explanation in March. It may have been that the Teamsters no longer felt it could trust him. In early February, Hostess had asked the bankruptcy judge to approve a sweet new employment deal for Driscoll. Its terms guaranteed him a base annual salary of $1.5 million, plus cash incentives and "long-term incentive" compensation of up to $2 million. If Hostess liquidated or Driscoll were fired without cause, he'd still get severance pay of $1.95 million as long as he honored a noncompete agreement.
When the Teamsters saw the court motion, Ken Hall, the union's secretary-treasurer and No. 2 man, was irate. So much, he thought, for what he described as Driscoll's "happy talk" about "shared sacrifice." Hall says he tracked Driscoll down by phone and told him, "If you don't withdraw this motion, these negotiations are done." Hostess withdrew the motion a few weeks later when Driscoll left -- the same Driscoll who, Hostess told the court in its motion, was "key" to "reestablishing" Hostess's "competitive position going forward." Abbott and Costello couldn't have made this stuff up if they'd gone to Wharton.
The board replaced Driscoll with Greg Rayburn, a restructuring expert Hostess had hired as a consultant only nine days earlier. Rayburn was a serial turnaround specialist who had worked with such high-profile distressed businesses as WorldCom, Muzak Holdings, and New York City Off-Track Betting. He became Hostess's sixth CEO in a decade. Within a month of taking over, Rayburn had to preside over a public-relations fiasco. Some unsecured creditors had informed the court that last summer -- as the company was crumbling -- four top Hostess executives received raises of up to 80%. (Driscoll had also received a pay raise back then.) The Teamsters saw this as more management shenanigans. "Looting" is how Hall described it in TV interviews"
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I, for one, would have figured that this country is obese enough to sustain Hostess' business model (no matter what it is).
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They should try selling food.
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I, for one, would have figured that this country is obese enough to sustain Hostess' business model (no matter what it is).
I, for one, would have figured that this country is obese enough to sustain Hostess' business model (no matter what it is).
Well the Chinese make terrible pastries cheaper so there's that.
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I, for one, would have figured that this country is obese enough to sustain Hostess' business model (no matter what it is).
Well the Chinese make terrible pastries cheaper so there's that.
Well the Chinese make terrible pastries cheaper so there's that.
Yep. They might even put ethylene glycol in it to kill us off.
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Is this the Browns Board? There are no "it's Obama's fault" posts?
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It's not Barack Obama's fault. It's Michelle Obama's fault! With her healthy food promoting UN agenda, something, something, MichelleMao.
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" and their products are old and outdated "
I didn't think a Twinkie could be outdated?
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Ha. Yes, there's nothing in there to decompose.
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Corp America management AND the unions are two destructive forces these days, ...all too often.
Look at Goodyear. Management sucked, overreached, unions changed into fair and decent treatment of employees,
to blackmail, entitlement and permanet job security no matter what and self-perpetuating excesses.
You can't keep or make good management with a union, and you can't avoid a union with good management..
Go look at Richard Trumke sp? - AFL-CIO, to see where too many major unions have gone off the deep end.
And, Hostess chocolate cupcakes should be forever. Just not eaten very often.
But they are great with coffee once in a long while.
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I always liked Twinkies with chocolate milk.
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Are the bakers only striking against hostess?
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Are the bakers only striking against hostess?
not any more. The company is out of business.
WSS
www.westsidesteve.com www.myspace.com/westsidestevemusic www.cdbaby.com/artist/westsidestevesimmons -
I think the nail in their coffin was making golden cupcakes. Who the f wants golden cupcakes? They're disgusting. Only chocolate cupcakes will do.
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My personal favorite of all that garbage is the Saint Patrick's Day green hostess snowball!
WSS
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Are the bakers only striking against hostess?
not any more. The company is out of business.
WSS
not any more. The company is out of business.
WSS
so they are striking against Little Debbie too?
"And they don't really know even what they're talkin' about And I can't imagine what empty heads can achieve."
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