On Nov 16, 5:23*pm, F. George McDuffee gmcduf...@mcduffee-
associates.us wrote:
On Fri, 16 Nov 2012 10:38:46 -0800, "azotic"





wrote:
All Hostess Brands employees will lose their jobs in the coming weeks, some
sooner than others, the company announced Friday. The layoffs span
nationwide, and represent a deep cut in mid-wage jobs that often came with
benefits. The company had operated 33 bakeries, 565 distribution centers and
570 outlet stores across the country.
Many production workers earned up to $20 an hour, plus had access to medical
benefits, according to Michael O'Brien, a former Hostess employee who had
worked at the company for 45 years, in various sales functions, before he
was offered a buyout last year.

A recent bakers strike was the final nail in the coffin, the company said.

"Widespread strikes by the Bakers Union forced us to cease operations
because we can longer produce or delivery product."

http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/16/news.../hostess-jobs/

Best Regards
Tom.

============

While the unions make a convenient scape goat, from the data
record it appears this has been a long term "planned
bankruptcy" or in the more colorful argot of the Goodfellas,
a "bust out," from the time Interstate Bakeries was
purchased out of bankruptcy in 2004 by a consortium of
private equity funds.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hostess...ewood_Holdings

It appears Hostess Brands had been preparing for a chapter 7
[liquidation] filing for quite some time, as executives and
law firms experienced in liquidation had been hired months
ago, and the liquidation was scheduled even if the unions
had accepted yet another benefit and wage cut.
(Contractually required employer defined benefit pension
contributions stopped over a year ago)

At least one sizable loan was obtained by the renamed
Hostess Brands, nominally to update and modernize their
facilities, but no update appears to have occurred. *Rather
the loan proceeds appear to have been used to fund a special
dividend to the stock holders, which were the private equity
funds, and which more than covered their initial investment
to purchase Interstate Bakeries, which had already been run
into the ground by their previous owner, Data Processing and
Financial General which had purchased the corporation in
1975.

There appears to have been several fraudulent loans and the
pension fund seems to have been looted. Both of these
actions should be crimes, but most likely there will be no
prosecutions. *Because of unemployment compensation, cost of
the social safety net, loss of taxes paid by the company and
their employees, tax credits for bad loans/business losses,
and expense to cover the pension shortfall through the PBGC,
very considerable costs have been externalized to society
and the general taxpayers.

--
Unka' George

"Gold is the money of kings,
silver is the money of gentlemen,
barter is the money of peasants,
but debt is the money of slaves"

-Norm Franz, "Money and Wealth in the New Millenium"- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Take a hard look...Mitt's fingerprints on this one.

TMT