Twinkie CEO Admits Company Took Employees Pensions and Put It Toward Executive Pay

http://www.alternet.org/corporate-accountability-and-workplace/twinkie-ceo-admits-company-took-employees-pensions-and-put-it?akid=9796.129638.iZ5mSw&rd=1&src=newsletter759975&t=17&paging=off


Twinkie CEO Admits Company Took Employees Pensions and Put It Toward Executive Pay

Hostess company continues to screw over its workers.


December 11, 2012 |



"Twinkie-maker Hostess continues to screw over its workers. The company is in the process of complete liquidation and 18,000 unionized workers are set to lose their jobs. More troubling – they could lose their pensions.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Hostess’ CEO, Gregory Rayburn, essentially admitted that his company stole employee pension money and put it toward CEO and senior executive pay (aka “operations”). While this isn't technically illegal, it's another sleazy theft by Hostess executives - who've paid themselves handsomely while running their company into the ground. Just last month, a judge agreed to let Hostess executives suck another $1.8 million out of the bankrupt company to pay bonuses to CEOs.

If there's no way to recover the money for the Hostess pension plans for workers, then the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. will have to foot the bill to make sure workers get at least some of the retirement money they paid in.

Hostess shows us clearly what Bain-style predatory capitalism is all about: big bucks for the very few rich executives, layoffs and poverty for the workers and their communities..."

Floridatexan wrote:
http://www.alternet.org/corporate-accountability-and-workplace/twinkie-ceo-admits-company-took-employees-pensions-and-put-it?akid=9796.129638.iZ5mSw&rd=1&src=newsletter759975&t=17&paging=off


Twinkie CEO Admits Company Took Employees Pensions and Put It Toward Executive Pay

Hostess company continues to screw over its workers.


December 11, 2012 |



"Twinkie-maker Hostess continues to screw over its workers. The company is in the process of complete liquidation and 18,000 unionized workers are set to lose their jobs. More troubling – they could lose their pensions.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Hostess’ CEO, Gregory Rayburn, essentially admitted that his company stole employee pension money and put it toward CEO and senior executive pay (aka “operations”). While this isn't technically illegal, it's another sleazy theft by Hostess executives - who've paid themselves handsomely while running their company into the ground. Just last month, a judge agreed to let Hostess executives suck another $1.8 million out of the bankrupt company to pay bonuses to CEOs.

If there's no way to recover the money for the Hostess pension plans for workers, then the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. will have to foot the bill to make sure workers get at least some of the retirement money they paid in.

Hostess shows us clearly what Bain-style predatory capitalism is all about: big bucks for the very few rich executives, layoffs and poverty for the workers and their communities..."

Gordon Geiko strikes again . . . . . how pathetic and sad.

Isn't this really all the fault of unions?

There is also this to consider as part of the problem:

"According to The Wall Street Journal, “The snack giant endured $52 million in workers’ comp claims in 2011, according to its bankruptcy filing this January. Hostess’s 372 collective-bargaining agreements required the company to maintain 80 different health and benefit plans, 40 pension plans and mandated a $31 million increase in wages and health care and other benefits for 2012.

“Union work rules usually required cake and bread products to be delivered to a single retail location using two separate trucks. Drivers weren’t allowed to load their own vehicles, and the workers who loaded bread weren’t allowed to load cake. On most delivery routes, another ‘pull up’ employee moved products from back rooms to shelves.”

Three hundred and seventy two collective-bargaining agreements?

Eighty health and benefit plans?

Forty pension plans?

Separate trucks and workers for cake and bread deliveries?

The question shouldn’t be why Hostess went under, but why it took so long."

Isn't this really all the fault of unions?

not in this case.......and I am sure the top executives will plead the "twinke defense for murdering a perfectly viable company over a decade. These folks should be stripped and tarred and feathered on the public square.....the hell with discussions.....a few folks sprouting feathers and you will maybe begin to see responsible behavior.

Yeah, ... it's all the union's fault.

…Back in 2005 Hostess sent out a letter saying they’d just had a very, very profitable quarter. Their stock jumped up. The CEO, Charles Sullivan, and many of the senior executives sold chunks of their stock.

Then, a few weeks later in 2005, came the letter saying that, oops, all of that profit had really been just an accounting error – the company was actually in trouble. Although the CEO and the top guys had all made a nice killing selling the stock when it was high, and paying a maximum income tax on it of 15 percent because they used the Capital Gains loophole that Mitt Romney used to become a multimillionaire, they now wanted the workers to take a big pay cut.

And, they DID take a big paycut, while executive pay soared, and while executives “borrowed” from the workers’ self-funded pensions.

http://www.alternet.org/corporate-accountability-and-workplace/twinkie-ceo-admits-company-took-employees-pensions-and-put-it?paging=off

Ghandi wrote:Isn't this really all the fault of unions?

***************************************************

It's politically subjective ghandi . . . . . it sounds to me more like union busting but we will know if Twinkies come back on the market won't we?

The avariciousness of this country is astounding and it is our downfall.

knothead wrote:

Ghandi wrote:Isn't this really all the fault of unions?

***************************************************

It's politically subjective ghandi . . . . . it sounds to me more like union busting but we will know if Twinkies come back on the market won't we?

I understand there are several companies interested in purchasing Hostess.

BTW that quagmire of union agreements needed to be busted up.

Yep, no doubt about it. Those nasty unions held a gun to the heads of those over paid executives and forced them, FORCED THEM I tell ya what, to skull the company, while lying to everyone within earshot.

Them bastards should be shot in the back of their greedy heads and throwed in a bar ditch before the sun rises tomorrow. Then their entire collective wealth should be confuscated and given to the un-employees as Christmas bonuses.

Floridatexan wrote:
http://www.alternet.org/corporate-accountability-and-workplace/twinkie-ceo-admits-company-took-employees-pensions-and-put-it?akid=9796.129638.iZ5mSw&rd=1&src=newsletter759975&t=17&paging=off


Twinkie CEO Admits Company Took Employees Pensions and Put It Toward Executive Pay

Hostess company continues to screw over its workers.


December 11, 2012 |



"Twinkie-maker Hostess continues to screw over its workers. The company is in the process of complete liquidation and 18,000 unionized workers are set to lose their jobs. More troubling – they could lose their pensions.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Hostess’ CEO, Gregory Rayburn, essentially admitted that his company stole employee pension money and put it toward CEO and senior executive pay (aka “operations”). While this isn't technically illegal, it's another sleazy theft by Hostess executives - who've paid themselves handsomely while running their company into the ground. Just last month, a judge agreed to let Hostess executives suck another $1.8 million out of the bankrupt company to pay bonuses to CEOs.

If there's no way to recover the money for the Hostess pension plans for workers, then the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. will have to foot the bill to make sure workers get at least some of the retirement money they paid in.

Hostess shows us clearly what Bain-style predatory capitalism is all about: big bucks for the very few rich executives, layoffs and poverty for the workers and their communities..."

Your OPINION PIECE from a far left source showed that Hostess "ESSENTIALLY ADMITTED", NOT that they admitted. It also linked to the original story at the Wall Street Journal which is not available.

Hostess tried everything they could to keep the company open. The Union top dogs refused to negotiate leaving their members, those affected, unemployed.

Please explain what you mean by "Bain-style predatory capitalism".

Markle wrote:

Floridatexan wrote:
http://www.alternet.org/corporate-accountability-and-workplace/twinkie-ceo-admits-company-took-employees-pensions-and-put-it?akid=9796.129638.iZ5mSw&rd=1&src=newsletter759975&t=17&paging=off


Twinkie CEO Admits Company Took Employees Pensions and Put It Toward Executive Pay

Hostess company continues to screw over its workers.


December 11, 2012 |



"Twinkie-maker Hostess continues to screw over its workers. The company is in the process of complete liquidation and 18,000 unionized workers are set to lose their jobs. More troubling – they could lose their pensions.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Hostess’ CEO, Gregory Rayburn, essentially admitted that his company stole employee pension money and put it toward CEO and senior executive pay (aka “operations”). While this isn't technically illegal, it's another sleazy theft by Hostess executives - who've paid themselves handsomely while running their company into the ground. Just last month, a judge agreed to let Hostess executives suck another $1.8 million out of the bankrupt company to pay bonuses to CEOs.

If there's no way to recover the money for the Hostess pension plans for workers, then the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. will have to foot the bill to make sure workers get at least some of the retirement money they paid in.

Hostess shows us clearly what Bain-style predatory capitalism is all about: big bucks for the very few rich executives, layoffs and poverty for the workers and their communities..."

Your OPINION PIECE from a far left source showed that Hostess "ESSENTIALLY ADMITTED", NOT that they admitted. It also linked to the original story at the Wall Street Journal which is not available.

Hostess tried everything they could to keep the company open. The Union top dogs refused to negotiate leaving their members, those affected, unemployed.

Please explain what you mean by "Bain-style predatory capitalism".

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323316804578165813739413332.html

"Hostess Brands Inc. said it used wages that were supposed to help fund employee pensions for the company's operations as it sank toward bankruptcy."

snip

"Gregory Rayburn, Hostess's chief executive officer, said in an interview it is "terrible" that employee wages earmarked for the pension were steered elsewhere by the company."

So, they did admit it. More importantly, what is your hangup with them admitting anything when THEY ACTUALLY DID IT?