No, we're talking about Hostess.
That presupposes Tornicade lied to us.
You didn't make up statistics, did you, T-cade? DID YOU?
Then about a year ago Hostess quit making their contractual contributions to the worker's pension plans and filed yet another bankruptcy reorganization. And just before pleading poverty before the bankruptcy court, Hostess executives tripled their salaries.
Hostess then had the gall to ask the court to tear up the union contracts, but the unions fought back, the Teamsters taking the lead and negotiating a less severe concession contract that was narrowly approved by the Teamster Hostess employees.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/11/09/1159864/-Hostess-Bakers-Strike#
http://www.teamster.org/content/dow...ng-hostess-amid-talk-‘shared-sacrifice’-execs
Hostess's then-CEO, Brian Driscoll, saw his salary rise to $2.55 million from $750,000--a 300% increase.
"Other executives' salaries were increased by from 35% to 80%," the creditors said.
While Driscoll--who abruptly abandoned his post at Hostess's helm last month, leaving a restructuring expert to take his place--ultimately refused a portion of the salary bump, others seem to have kept the funds, the creditors said. They noted that the company continues to pay the prebankruptcy salary increases, no piece of which was "made contingent upon any aspect of the debtors' business performance or operations."
Hostess's own compensation consultant noted "that the increased salaries were not incentive compensation at all," the creditors said, and urged the company to tie the payments to company performance and wrap them into an incentive plan once Hostess filed for bankruptcy. But Hostess "disregarded" the suggestion, the creditors said, and also failed to disclose that it had tweaked the executives' pay in the six months leading up to the bankruptcy. The creditors only learned of the changes during a February deposition of the human resources executive.
http://mediamatters.org/research/2012/11/16/fox-ignores-hostess-array-of-troubles-to-scapeg/191440
Reuters: Hostess Filed For Its First Bankruptcy In 2004. In March, Reuters reported that Hostess "filed for its first bankruptcy in 2004, citing declining sales, high food costs, excess capacity and worker benefit expenses." [Reuters,
3/6/12]
Forbes: The Company Exited Bankruptcy In 2009. In July, Forbes reported that "Hostess was able to exit bankruptcy in 2009" because of an "equity infusion of $130 million" from a private equity firm, as well as "substantial concessions by the two big unions" and lenders that "agreed to say in the game rather than drive Hostess into liquidation." [Forbes,
7/26/12]
Huffington Post: Hostess Re-Entered Bankruptcy In 2012. In January, The Huffington Post reported that "Hostess Brands is hoping to cut its high costs as it heads back into bankruptcy protection for the second time in less than a decade." [The Huffington Post,
1/11/12]
Hostess' First Bankruptcy Was Expensive And Did Not Improve The Company's Prospects
Reuters: Hostess' Entered "First Bankruptcy With $648.5 Million In Debt, And Came Out With More Than $800 Million." Reuters reported that after Hostess filed for its first bankruptcy in 2004, "it did not deal with its debt":
It tackled some issues -- closing bakeries and simplifying some union contracts -- but it did not deal with its debt. It went into the first bankruptcy with $648.5 million in debt, and came out with more than $800 million, according to court documents. [Reuters, 3/6/12]
Reuters: Hostess "Spent More Than $170 Million On Professional Fees" In Its First Bankruptcy. Reuters further reported that in its first bankruptcy, Hostess spent more than $170 million on professional fees:
Each time a company goes bankrupt, it must pay for lawyers and advisers not only for itself, but for its major creditors. In its first bankruptcy, Hostess spent more than $170 million on professional fees, based on its monthly operating reports. [Reuters,
3/6/12]
NY Times: Hostess Entered Bankruptcy In 2012 With Debts And Liabilities That Exceeded Its Assets. In January,
The New York Times' DealBook reported that Hostess had "more than $850 million of secured debt outstanding" as well as "$180 million in accrued workers compensation liabilities." The
Times further reported that "[a]nother $50 million to $60 million is outstanding to trade creditors, plus $36 million in lease obligation" and that the company was "going to lay a $75 million debtor-in-possession loan on top of that." The
Times added that "all this from a company with assets of just over $980 million." [
The New York Times, Dealbook,
1/13/12]
Hostess Asked Unions For More Pay Cuts Despite "Substantial Concessions" In The Past
Forbes: Hostess Exited Bankruptcy Because Of "Substantial Concessions By The Two Big Unions." Forbes explained that Hostess was able to exit bankruptcy in 2009 for three reasons, including that "substantial concessions" were made "by the two big unions" -- the Teamsters and the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union. Forbes further explained that "annual labor cost savings to the company were about $110 million" and that "thousands of union members lost their jobs." [Forbes,
7/26/12]
Hostess Had Stopped Contributing To Pensions And Wanted To Cut Worker Pay Further. According to
The Kansas City Star, union leaders reported that Hostess had stopped contributing to workers' pensions and wanted to cut wages and benefits "by 27 to 32 percent":
The bakery workers union said the contract would cut wages and benefits by 27 to 32 percent, including an immediate 8 percent wage cut.
[...]
Union officials said the company stopped contributing to the workers' pensions last year, and 92 percent of union members voted to reject the contract in September. A bankruptcy court judge allowed the company to force the union to accept the new collective bargaining agreement.
"Hostess Brands is making a mockery of the labor relations system that has been in place for nearly 100 years," said Frank Hurt, international president of the union. [
The Kansas City Star,
11/12/12]
Hostess Raised Executive Salary By 35% To 80%. According to
The Wall Street Journal, in April Hostess' creditors noted that Hostess had dramatically increased executive pay, including increasing CEO compensation from $750,000 to $2.25 million. According to the
Journal, Hostess' creditors called the move "a possible effort to 'sidestep' Bankruptcy Code compensation programs":
Last July, the court documents said, the compensation committee of Hostess's board approved an increase in then-chief executive Brian Driscoll's salary from to $2.55 million from around $750,000. The company had hired restructuring lawyers in March 2011, the creditors said, and filed for bankruptcy protection on Jan. 11.
[...]
Besides Mr. Driscoll, "other executives' salaries were increased by from 35% to 80%," the creditors said. The documents said that Mr. Driscoll subsequently renounced a portion of the increase while "other executives did not appear to have done so." Besides Mr. Driscoll, two other executives who saw their salaries increase have also left the company, according to the spokesman.[
The Wall Street Journal,
4/4/12]
THE GUYS ARE CROOKS AND WILL PROBABLY END UP GOING TO JAIL FOR BANKRUPTCY FRAUD !!!!