Hostess bakery in St. Louis closing following strike

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Hostess Brands Inc. is permanently closing three bakeries following a nationwide strike by its bakers union.

The maker of Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Wonder Bread said Monday that the strike has prevented it from producing and delivering products, and it is closing bakeries in Seattle, St. Louis and Cincinnati. The facilities employ 627 workers.

Hostess, based in Irving, Texas, operates 36 bakeries nationwide and has about 18,300 employees. It warned earlier this month that the strike, by about 30 percent of its workforce, could lead to bakery closures.

“We deeply regret this decision, but we have repeatedly explained that we will close facilities that are no longer able to produce and deliver products because of a work stoppage — and that we will close the entire company if widespread strikes cripple our business,” Hostess Brands CEO Gregory F. Rayburn said.

More like this story

JCLifer 6 months, 1 week ago

Ship these 18,000 jobs to China too. Wantons and fortune cookies instead of dingdongs and twinkies!

rodinman 6 months, 1 week ago

Go on strike and lose your job, sounds great to me. Kudos to management. they told the employees what would happen and the employees did not listen. Unfortunately, in a few months they will probably be expecting the taxpayers to subsidize their lifestyle.

JCLifer 6 months, 1 week ago

My understanding is that many/most of the employees are members of the Teamsters, and it is the union bosses that are telling them to strike. That would be a hard decision as an employee- follow your union's orders to strike and lose your job when the place shuts down, or cross the picket line and work for less as a scab and pray the place stays open.

asb 6 months, 1 week ago

Three plants up for sale to a better business sounds good. If it were the Teamsters, the local workers are who made the choice, must've been a real cr*p place to work.

spelchek 6 months, 1 week ago

So the union chased hundreds of jobs away from MO more than likely to one of our business friendly neighbors like TN. Keep up the good work (or lack thereof now)! Don't worry, I'm sure the union bosses and brothers will take care of the 627 unemployed martyrs. Hostess rules!!! I'm going to actively buy more Hostess now.

Littleinvestor 6 months, 1 week ago

There is more to it than that. Hostess has been or still is in bankruptcy and was cutting wages and benefits. Don't know if the strike was called for or not as I have not looked any further into the matter as I have no stock affected and no one I know works for Hostess. The baking industry has been in an upheaval for some time. Maybe the three plants needed to be closed regardless.

JCLifer 6 months, 1 week ago

Hostess stuff tastes like cr*p. It is not healthy one bit, and is full of chemicals and preservatives. There are just too many superior alternatives to Hostess products from bakeries, Panera, etc.

Hostess is just an example of a 1940's business model that is no longer feasible. Let it die- I doubt that many would miss it.

BK Bakery gets my vote if I want a tasty treat!

Please review our Policies and Procedures before registering or commenting

Or login with:

OpenID

News Tribune