Today, Hostess Brands inc. — the company famed for its sickly sweet desert snacks like Twinkies and Sno Balls — announced they’d be shuttering after more than eighty years of production.

But while headlines have been quick to blame unions for the downfall of the company there’s actually more to the story: While the company was filing for bankruptcy, for the second time, earlier this year, it actually tripled its CEO’s pay, and increased other executives’ compensation by as much as 80 percent.

At the time, creditors warned that the decision signaled an attempt to “sidestep” bankruptcy rules, potentially as a means for trying to keep the executive at a failing company. The Confectionery, Tobacco Workers & Grain Millers International Union pointed this out in their written reaction to the news that the business is closing:

BCTGM members are well aware that as the company was preparing to file for bankruptcy earlier this year, the then CEO of Hostess was awarded a 300 percent raise (from approximately $750,000 to $2,550,000) and at least nine other top executives of the company received massive pay raises. One such executive received a pay increase from $500,000 to $900,000 and another received one taking his salary from $375,000 to $656,256.

Certainly, the company agreed to an out-sized pension debt, but the decision to pay executives more while scorning employee contracts during a bankruptcy reflects a lack of good managerial judgement.

It also follows a trend of rising CEO pay in times of economic difficulty. At the manufacturing company Caterpillar, for example, they froze workers’ pay while boosting their CEO’s pay to $17 million. And at Citigroup, CEO Vikram Pandit received $6.7 million for crashing his company, walking off with $260 million after the business lost 88 percent of its value.
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/11/16/1203151/why-unions-dont-shoulder-the-blame-for-hostesss-downfall/?mobile=nc

well,how about:"The Idiots shot Themselves in their Own Foot?
Or:"The Pitcher goes to the Well until it breaks"!
Or:"The Smarties went to the Well so much,it dried up"?


The other Union involved had more sense and begged the Confectioners Union to desist!
But no,they smelled Blood and wanted more from the Well they dried up!
No matter how you spin it,the Union got Greedy and Goofed!

Someone smelled blood in the water for sure and gave themselves big fat raises.

Brian Driscoll, CEO, around $750,000 to $2,550,000.
Gary Wandschneider, EVP, $500,000 to $900,000.
John Stewart, EVP, $400,000 to $700,000.
David Loeser, EVP, $375,000 to $656,256.
Kent Magill, EVP, $375,000 to $656,256.
Richard Seban, EVP, $375,000 to $656,256.
John Akeson, SVP, $300,000 to $480,000.
Steven Birgfeld, SVP, $240,000 to $360,000.
Martha Ross, SVP, $240,000 to $360,000.
Rob Kissick, SVP, $182,000 to $273,008.

I would have a hard time taking a 30% pay cut when the CEO's gave themselves 50% or more pay raises.

No wonder why the republicans are losing elections and the fight for America future.

you Guys miscalculated,goofed!
Simple!


would you like to Date your claim?

LaborPains.org

Trumka’s Ho-Hos Attack is Ho-Hum

Unlike Twinkies, which have been rumored to last forever — and now might not last another week thanks to a union strike — labor’s arguments can get stale pretty quickly.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka seems to think that just because labor paid millions for its political messaging in 2012 that the campaign slogans can be reused for anything. In a statement on the Hostess liquidation, Trumka said:

What’s happening with Hostess Brands is a microcosm of what’s wrong with America, as Bain-style Wall Street vultures make themselves rich by making America poor. Crony capitalism and consistently poor management drove Hostess into the ground, but its workers are paying the price. These workers, who consistently make great products Americans love and have offered multiple concessions, want their company to succeed. They have bravely taken a stand against the corporate race-to-the-bottom. And now they and their communities are suffering the tragedy of a needless layoff. This is wrong. It has to stop. It’s wrecking America.

This isn’t an argument: it’s a recycled talking point. Blaming the free market for every problem that befalls labor is how unions got into this mess (and will never get out of it). Hostess faced a difficult reality: restructure or cease to exist. Labor costs are a major part of the equation, and because the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) represents the company’s second-largest group of employees, Hostess needs its cooperation. The largest union, the Teamsters, obliged, and even asked the BCTGM to back down from the destructive strike. But BCGTM stayed on the picket lines through yesterday’s deadline, and Hostess announced this morning that it had to liquidate the company.

What the BCTGM did might be “brave” as Trumka claims, but it isn’t smart. And if you don’t think so, consider labor’s response: trashing an unrelated venture capital firm that used to be run by a guy who just lost the presidential election.

But don’t blame Trumka for having nothing constructive to say: there is no good argument for the bakers union strike.


GOOOOOFED!

Shuttering???

What's that? A camera with a speech impediment?

Brian Driscoll, CEO, around $750,000 to $2,550,000.
Gary Wandschneider, EVP, $500,000 to $900,000.
John Stewart, EVP, $400,000 to $700,000.
David Loeser, EVP, $375,000 to $656,256.
Kent Magill, EVP, $375,000 to $656,256.
Richard Seban, EVP, $375,000 to $656,256.
John Akeson, SVP, $300,000 to $480,000.
Steven Birgfeld, SVP, $240,000 to $360,000.
Martha Ross, SVP, $240,000 to $360,000.
Rob Kissick, SVP, $182,000 to $273,008.

If one is in the top management of a struggling company why would you give yourselves a huge pay increase and demand austerity from the workers?

Its the republican way "blame the victims"

That is exactly why republicans are being tossed onto the dustbin of history.

Good riddance.

Dating your Claim?
Union Goofed,or at least miscalculated and went too far!
Usually happens to Parasites,they always Kill The Hostess!

Omg get off the republican narrative.

Yea they went to far by refusing a pay cut while top management gave themselves a big raise while wrecking the company.

Come to reality Mr Conrad we welcome you here.

you still didn't show when that Raise took place!
Union Goooofed badly!

Why prove anything to you Mr Conrad? You will say something like.

"the Huffington Post Its a liberal rag.

CNN Communist News Network.

CNBC a bunch of Pinkos

you said it!
can't argue with your evaluation of them!
It's On the Button!

Union goofed,got Bitchslapped,and now they are Butthurt!
It's sad how the Union sold out its Own Members and continues doing so!
Sad!

So, when did these CEO's receive the alleged increases? Prior to the company announcing austerity measures, or after?

Actually they are brave men and women and took a stand and took a hit for the rest of us.

Why should any working person take a pay cut while its top CEO's run a company into the ground and give themselves a pay raise to boot?

I am glad to see the spirit of working people is still alive and we all haven't become subservient groveling slaves.

Good riddance to a mismanaged company that wanted to give themselves pay raises while the working people got pay cuts.

The management came in and looted the place blamed the workers and got golden parachutes.

damn Unions

ay Increases…For Some…As the Company Slowly Goes Under

As the company was asking for more givebacks from workers, a group of creditors said in court papers that the company “may have manipulated its executives’ salaries higher in the months leading up to its Chapter 11 filing,” again according to the WSJ. According to the creditors’ court filing, the following Hostess executives saw substantial salary increases in July 2011:

Brian Driscoll, CEO, from around $750,000 to $2,550,000
Gary Wandscheider, EVP, $500,000 to $900,000
John Stewart, EVP, $400,000 to $700,000
David Loeser, EVP, $375,000 to $656,256
Kent Magill, EVP, $375,000 to $656,256
Richard Seban, EVP, $375,00o to $656,256
John Akeson, SVP, $300,000 to $480,000
Steven Birgfeld, SVP, $240,000 to $360,000
Martha Ross, SVP, $240,000 to $360,000
Rob Kissick, SVP, $182,000 t0 $273,008

[Note: The WSJ article observes that some executives did not take the full raise.]

http://dailynewsfinder.com/2012/11/17/everything-you-probably-didnt-know-about-the-hostess-brands-story/

as predicted eh?

Ok, so, all that is known is that the CEO's were offered these salary increases some sixteen months ago. Anything else is hearsay.

Yea sixteen months BEFORE they filled for yet another bankruptcy.

another Storm in a Teacup!

and Chubby Checker dancing!

Mr Conrad.

Your posts are always a great reminder of why the right wing ideology is bankrupt.

Thanks

I rose early today to tackle some projects the coffee pot is dry and I am ready to roll.

Have a great day old buddy.