Hostess gets the Bain Capital treatment.

[DefenseLawyer]

Private equity buys the "bankrupt" company for millions, restarts the brand after destroying the good paying union jobs of its employees and leaving the taxpayers holding the bag on their pensions. Get ready for lots of feel good stories after the "comeback" of the Twinkie with its part-time, minimum wage, no-benefits workforce! Eat up, America.

[HiPointDem]

1. kr. it would be laughable if it weren't so tragic. grand larceny usa

empty the fucking prisons, the ruling class has them all beat

[Jamaal510]

2. As much as I miss Hostess,

even I was disgusted at how the only thing most Americans were talking about was how they couldn't have any more Twinkies, Cupcakes, Suzy Qs, etc. ever again. That company was clearly hostile to unions and didn't want to play fair with its employees, yet very few people in the media and elsewhere really seemed to give a rat's ass. The talk of the town was how people had one less stop to go to for sweets, never mind the fact that there is still Little Debbie's.
I'll tell you one thing, though--if Hostess were to successfully make a comeback, I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to eat another product from them again without feeling a little bit of guilt.

[MADem]

3. I thought they were amusing as a cultural touchstone, but I haven't eaten the crap in decades.

To me, it tasted like high fructose corn syrup and metallic preservatives. Just not very ... delicious.

But hey, words like Twinkies and Ding Dongs, those are comedy gold...

[csziggy]

4. Never had any of their products

If I'm going to consume useless calories I'll make or buy fresh baked goods, not preservative laden stuff that is who knows how old.

[MADem]

5. You honestly are not missing a thing. They just aren't very good. nt

[HiPointDem]

14. so beside the point

[Raine]

15. Little Debbies are so much better, the quality is better

their cakes actually look and taste like real cake.

[Loki]

6. I won't be buying their crap.

I would gladly make signs "brought to you by part-time, minimum wage, no benefits workforce" and place them by the displays.

[jmowreader]

7. The Bain Capital treatment is what killed them in the first place

[thelordofhell]

8. +800,000,000

The amount of money the first venture capital firm drained from Hostess

[Hissyspit]

9. Union-busting.

[cstanleytech]

10. Here is a question for you. Was the offer to the unions

(which most accepted if I recall correctly) fair as far as the companies finances went?
If not then what would have been a fair offer?

[jmowreader]

11. Are you talking about the offer to the unions that happened just before they closed?

The problem is, the company had gone to the unions quite a few times: Give us this concession, and we'll be able to bail ourselves out of the hole we're in. (Which, of course, the vulture capital firms dug, with steam shovels.)

The last time they tried it, the company offered the unions a package which basically amounted to paying the company to come to work - IIRC they wanted to get rid of pensions and slash wages to the bone. Finally the bakers' union told them, "we've always agreed before. This time we can't; we can't live on what you're offering. You'll have to make good on some of the promises you've made in the past." The vulture capitalists then closed the company and told Faux News how unreasonable the unions were being.

[blkmusclmachine]

12. .

.

[stuffmatters]

13. Tonight's News on CBS & NBC both blamed the unions

I didn't catch ABC, but presume they pushed the same anti-union lie, obviously stenographed the same press release from the takeover Pigs who took a healthy company, Bain style pumped & dumped it.


Lester Holt NBC) &quot Hostess)Twinkies will be back for the summer. The company went bankrupt last year after a fight with union workers."

Kid with Good Hair(CBS): "Twinkies will be back on store shelves...the company is now under new leadership following a bitter union fight that lead to bankruptcy last year."

The unions(and American taxpayers) were the deliberate victims here; no need to watch Faux News I guess when you've got the stupids at CBS and NBC being just as antiunion/antiworker/mendacious.

[Starry Messenger]

16. Thank you.

The lack of institutional memory in this country in regards to union busting and corporate raiding is always shocking to me.