Hostess Asking Bankruptcy Court For $1.8 Million In Executive Bonus Pay
Bankrupt Hostess is asking a judge to grant approval of $1.8 million in bonuses for its executives. Seriously? Hostess claims the bonuses are to incent the 19 managers to stay on board during the company’s liquidation process. Granted, $1.8 million only amounts to $100 for each of 18,000 laid-off workers, and certainly wouldn’t be enough capital to run the company, but should executives who helped run the company into the ground really be rewarded for doing so? Plus, believe it or not, under the plan two of the executives will be eligible for addition rewards if they carry out the liquidation efficiently. Wow.
While Hostess has blamed its closure on an uncooperative union—which, by the way, is asking the bankruptcy judge to appoint an independent trustee to oversee the liquidation, claiming current management “has been woefully unsuccessful in its reorganization attempts—let’s take a look at how its executives contributed to its demise.
According to workers, the company miserably failed to update its sugary products when Americans trended toward more healthy snacks in recent years. The current bankruptcy filing is the company’s second in less than a decade. Since then, executive’s pay has doubled and the company demanded lower wages of its employees. Hostess stopped contributing to retiree’s pension plans more than a year ago. Plus, the company refused to invest in its brand. It failed to market any new flavors or products, nor did it invest in new packaging or other marketing efforts to draw consumers to Hostess products instead of competitors’. The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union says executives goal since the first bankruptcy has always been eventual liquidation.
Now, until a buyer or multiple buyers are located for the brand and/or its bakeries, nearly 20,000 Americans are out of work. But at least the bigwigs are getting theirs, right?
