Hostess to cease operations, citing union strike
Hostess Brands announced today that the business will be closing after failing to reach an agreement with striking workers.
The Texas-based maker of Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Wonder Bread and other baked goods said earlier this week that it would be forced to liquidate the bankrupt 18,000-employee company by today if a deal could not be reached with workers, including over 300 at a Biddeford plant.
"We deeply regret the necessity of today's decision, but we do not have the financial resources to weather an extended nationwide strike," Hostess CEO Gregory F. Rayburn said in a press release announcing that the firm had filed a motion with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to shutter its business.
"Hostess Brands will move promptly to lay off most of its 18,500-member work force and focus on selling its assets to the highest bidders."
The strike in Biddeford began last Friday when over 300 workers with the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union took to the street to protest a new contract that would cut pay by 8%, reduce benefits and stop company payments into the employee pension fund.
The announcement means the closure of 33 bakeries, 565 distribution centers, approximately 5,500 delivery routes and 570 bakery outlet stores in the United States. Hostess stores will remain open for several days to sell already-baked products.
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