CHICAGO - While there are hopes the Hostess brand products will make their way back to stores shelves in the future, after the company goes to court Wednesday to file Chapter 11, it's clear another company will need to step in and buy up the recipes for Twinkies and Ding-Dongs to ever reappear.
The company's second union refused to take all the company would offer Tuesday, causing 1380 Illinoisans to lose their jobs of over 13,000 jobs lost nationwide. What caused the collapse of baby boomers' childhood favs? Associated Press writes:
Hostess, weighed down by management turmoil, rising labor costs and the changing tastes of Americans, is making its second trip through Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring. The company, based in Irving, Texas, had brought on CEO Gregory Rayburn as a restructuring expert in part to renegotiate its contract with labor unions.
The company reached an agreement with its biggest union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, on a contract that dramatically reduced pension contributions, as well as slashing wages and health benefits. But the company said the bakers union stopped returning its calls about a month ago. The Teamsters urged the smaller union to hold a secret ballot on whether members wanted to continue striking. Many workers in the bakers union decided to cross picket lines this week, Hostess said it wasn't enough to keep operations at normal levels.
