What? No more Twinkies? A small poem.

Good night, Twinkie, filled with white "goo".
Good night, Ding Dong, you had that goo too.
Good night to the cupcake under my bed,
good night to the Ho Ho, in my stomach, like lead.
I never quite knew what exactly was in there,
but in moments of darkness, I didn't much care.
Of all the friends who have taken the test,
you may be the one who understood me the best.
I'll never forget you, really, how could I -
you'll live on forever as part of my thigh(s).

Bullet and I are from NJ, and in our hometown there was a Hostess factory. People make fun of NJ because of the TPKE and the horrible odor starting at exit 13. (Refineries and the port)

Our memories are different because EB Hwy 18 had the best odor...the smell of Twinkies and Wonder bread being made 24/7. Ask someone from NJ, and their childhood memories, it was Twinkies, Snowballs, Cupcakes, and Ho-Ho's. Mayor Bloomberg is probably cheering that they closed their doors!

We were talking about this yesterday while sitting Shiva for Bullet's Mom. Everybody placed the blame on the unions for the loss of their beloved Twinkies, not on Hostess. That and how if you live in NJ, whether you like Twinkies or not you always have them in your pantry because there is no expiration date.


If you ever want to end an argument quickly, just say I LIKE TWINKIES! Try to say it without smiling...it really is the easiest way to end an argument where everyone just starts laughing!

Condolences to your family, PIMA. Having lost my mother and my mother in law both this year, I can truly sympathize.
--

I remember going past the Entenmann's factory once (before I'd ever heard of them)... oooooooh! delicious! the Campbell's Soup factory in Chicago... hold-your-nose-awful. Funny - must be the sugar that makes the difference.

I remember actually using stale "snowballs" as Princess Leia hair years ago. Probably still around somewhere...

Wonder if the Hostess workers are happy with their union representation now. Don't like the new deal? No problem, no none of you have jobs. But no worries, it's also not easy to find a job these days too.

Two thumbs up to the union.

Yeah, I would say the Union appears to have done their rank-n-file a supreme disservice.

So now, *we* will be paying for their benefits - and income. Sad. Can't imagine Tastee Cakes wants to take on an addition 18,000 workers.

It's all Little Debbies fault! Notice how much she looks like Paula Broadwell? It's all part of a conspiracy to divert attention from Benghazi

fencersmother said:

Yeah, I would say the Union appears to have done their rank-n-file a supreme disservice.

So now, *we* will be paying for their benefits - and income. Sad. Can't imagine Tastee Cakes wants to take on an addition 18,000 workers.

Click to expand...

Actually, PBGC only covers the monetary part of pension, if you are talking about retirement. Any benefits are not covered.

Looking at the vulture capital firms involved, it was only a matter of time. They don't have a good record of turnarounds. From what I'm reading, their running cost structure wasn't the problem. It was carried debt both in the form of underfunded pension and corporate debt stacked over years of mismanagement that killed this particular situation.

The firm will simply sell off the brands and facilities (the ones in markets where there is market enough for the products) and pocket the proceeds. The current management has not offered to convert debt to equity and simply wants to take their money out.

Of course, they stuck the Teamsters with $100 million in pension liability as a result of their labor agreement there and this subsequent shutdown, so I imagine having unloaded that problem, they won't hurt too badly in a shutdown. I think if they could have gotten the bakers to take on some more of the unfunded debt, they would have completed the "turnaround" and sold out and moved on with their millions in profits.

Not sure if these kinds of activities really add to the productivity of America. They just shuffle around the cost of past bad decisions taking a cut when successful, taking a loss when not so much.

this was produced before the liquidation was made public, but it gives a good rundown of the cast of characters. appears everyone was at fault in this one, including the unions.

GoArmyBeatNavy said:

this was produced before the liquidation was made public, but it gives a good rundown of the cast of characters. appears everyone was at fault in this one, including the unions.

Click to expand...

Stupid thing is that whoever signed off on the first Chapter 11 was an idiot. You fix the labor issues the first time through. Defined benefit pension plan should have closed to new hires at that time given the size of the unfunded pension liability. Bankruptcy courts can force these things.

Sad problem here is that defined benefit pensions are so poorly regulated that the PBGC will be a punching bag for decades to come. Managements tend to rob them in the good times when they are overfunded and file Chapter 11 in the bad times.

Everyone bashes defined benefit plans, but when it comes down to it, they actually aren't too different from annuities. The difference being is that insurance companies behind annuities are actually better regulated.

bruno,

Showing my age...I remember Rich Little being the spokesperson for Little Debbie.

fencer,

Shame on you being a PA resident. It is Tastykakes...no C!

As far as Hostess goes, I feel for the workers, they bought what the unions sold them. They believed Hostess would not close their doors.

Welcome to the 21st Century. I wonder if other unions will re-think their position, or workers will re-think their support for unions after this situation.

Hostess will probably be bought, but because they have new owners, their union contracts will be re-visited. It was a lose-lose for the union employees. The union contract was with Hostess that went bankrupt, nobody knows if anyone will buy the company. If they do, does that mean their contract will be intact, or will it be re-negotiated? If it is re-negotiated; do any of these employees think it will be like it was when they went on strike, do they assume they will get a better contract?

This is the ultimate example of the unions/workers cutting off their nose to spite their face. That and another cliche...they played chicken and lost!

I've heard a rumor that some company is buying out the recipes to all Hostess products. Therefore, twinkies will live on (of course, they won't be called twinkies anymore).