l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 Hostess's Second-Largest Union Rejects Labor Deal
By RACHEL FEINTZEIG
Hostess Brands Inc.'s second-largest union voted to reject a revamped labor
deal, sending the company back to the drawing board as it scrambles to find
a way out of bankruptcy.
The maker of Twinkies and Wonder Bread on Friday saw its largest union, the
International Brotherhood of Teamsters, narrowly vote to accept the new
collective bargaining agreements but failed to get the Bakery, Confectionery
, Tobacco Workers & Grain Millers International Union on board. While Chief
Executive Gregory Rayburn last month said that Hostess would immediately
liquidate if either one of its two largest unions voted against the proposal
, he said in an interview Friday evening that the company will instead
launch a bankruptcy court effort to force the BCTGM to accept the new labor
deal.
He said the change in plans stemmed from his concern that BCTGM employees
were given "bad information" during the voting process.
"Leadership basically led employees in the union to believe that there's a
white knight buyer out there for the company, and there's not," he said. He
added that union leaders had also told employees that the company was
prepared to come back with another, better offer, but that was also a false
statement.
BCGTM officials didn't respond to calls for comment Thursday and Friday.
Mr. Rayburn said he hopes to see an early October start for the court
hearing, in which a judge would consider giving Hostess the right to reject
its current collective bargaining agreement with the BCTGM and replace it
with the last offer from the company. Judge Robert D. Drain, the bankruptcy
judge assigned to the case, earlier this year gave Hostess the right to
reject the BCTGM deal, but Mr. Rayburn said the company has to go through
the process again because the proposed labor deal "changed significantly"
following negotiations over the summer.
Mr. Rayburn said he didn't have the breakdown of the BCTGM votes. But the
Teamsters vote was close, with 53.6% voting in favor of the deal and 46.4%
voting against it, according to numbers provided by Leigh Strope, a
spokeswoman for the Teamsters.
The Teamsters, which represent 7,500 of Hostess's 19,000 employees, agreed
to new collective-bargaining agreements that will cut employees' pay and
limit their participation in controversial pension plans—"deep" concessions
that Mr. Rayburn says is the only way for the Irving, Texas, company to
emerge from Chapter 11.
Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall said in a statement that the
voting process—which kicked off Aug. 25—presented Hostess workers with a "
difficult decision."
"Our members are frustrated at being in the position to bail out the company
again, but overall were willing to accept modifications with the hope that
Hostess will recover and be in a better position in the years to come," he
said.
The approval from the Teamsters ends a monthslong impasse between that union
and Hostess. The two sides had done battle during an April trial at the U.S
. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, N.Y., and continued to clash during out-
of-court negotiations after a judge declined to give Hostess the right to
unilaterally implement a new deal with the Teamsters.
Neither the Teamsters nor the BCTGM endorsed the proposal upon distributing
it to employees, but the Teamsters' Mr. Hall told members his union was
sending it out for a vote anyway since "the likely consequence of rejecting
it outright means the loss of your jobs."
Altogether, Hostess's offer to the unions would lead to about $200 million
in average annual savings over the five-year contract. That includes about $
40 million a year in wage concessions—wages and commissions would be
slashed by 8% in the first year of the contract and then climb higher in
subsequent years—and about $75 million a year in pension-cost savings.
The company is poised to exit its controversial multi-employer pension plans
, financially shaky funds that Mr. Rayburn once called a "gatekeeping issue"
in the case, and then re-enter them under certain conditions that Mr.
Rayburn said would mitigate their risk. Other savings come from cuts to
employee health and welfare benefits.
The company is also promising the unions a 25% equity stake and $100 million
of third-lien debt upon Hostess's exit from bankruptcy. The rest of the
equity in the company is slated to be handed over to the first-lien lending
group, led by Silver Point Finance LLC and Monarch Master Funding Ltd., save
10%, which will be set aside for management-incentive plans, Mr. Rayburn
said in an interview last month.
The company's current private-equity owner, Ripplewood Holdings, is set to
be wiped out under the company's reorganization strategy. Mr. Rayburn
estimated the firm has more than $100 million in various stakes. It has
already stepped down from the company's board of directors, he said.
Hostess also has a possible sale in the works; it is contemplating selling
off its Merita bread and bakery business, based in the southeastern U.S., as
part of its restructuring strategy. The company would retain some of the
funds from that or any other potential asset sale while handing over a piece
of the proceeds to its lenders, owed money under the company's bankruptcy
loan.
The lenders have also agreed to reinstate their first-lien debt upon the
company's exit from bankruptcy, a "key" move that Mr. Rayburn said would
enable the company to "have the liquidity and have the credit to make the
investments we need to make that didn't get made the last time around." | l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 2 You have to love it when union hacks say their membership has to bail out
the company again.
I guess they are trying to spin their greed over the years to some sort of
magnanimous gesture.If the companies didn't have to waste resources dealing
with those parasites they could have probably escaped bankruptcy. | Q****r
发帖数: 7340 | 3 被union 搞死的公司多得去了
labor
find
the
Confectionery
Chief
【在 l****z 的大作中提到】
: Hostess's Second-Largest Union Rejects Labor Deal
: By RACHEL FEINTZEIG
: Hostess Brands Inc.'s second-largest union voted to reject a revamped labor
: deal, sending the company back to the drawing board as it scrambles to find
: a way out of bankruptcy.
: The maker of Twinkies and Wonder Bread on Friday saw its largest union, the
: International Brotherhood of Teamsters, narrowly vote to accept the new
: collective bargaining agreements but failed to get the Bakery, Confectionery
: , Tobacco Workers & Grain Millers International Union on board. While Chief
: Executive Gregory Rayburn last month said that Hostess would immediately
| l******x
发帖数: 1697 | 4 if they can bite the hand of chicago major, the leftest of the left, what do
you expect?
dealing
【在 l****z 的大作中提到】
: You have to love it when union hacks say their membership has to bail out
: the company again.
: I guess they are trying to spin their greed over the years to some sort of
: magnanimous gesture.If the companies didn't have to waste resources dealing
: with those parasites they could have probably escaped bankruptcy.
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