Hostess begins liquidation process

So much for the cream filling. A bankruptcy judge has given the pastry company Hostess official approval to fire 15,000 workers and begin negotiations with prospective buyers. “There’s an extreme amount of interest from many buyers,” said Hostess CEO Greg Rayburn.Employees recently began walking out of their jobs to protest executives’ salaries being raised at the expense of general worker benefits. Hostess did attempt to salvage itself on Tuesday with “eleventh-hour” talks with the Bakery, Confectioner, Tobacco and Grain Millers Union, but to no avail. Hostess representatives blamed the company’s ultimate failure on the strike, saying that it “crippled its operations at a time when the company lacked the financial resources to survive a significant labor action,” adding that “inflated cost structure,” which it attributed primarily to its collective bargaining agreements, put it at a “profound competitive disadvantage.” Operations actually began closing down last week. Hostess will keep 3,200 employees for its wind-down process. It will close a total of 33 bakery plants, 565 distribution centers and 570 outlet stores.