By Phil Wahba and Jonathan Stempel
Nov 14 (Reuters) - Hostess Brands Inc said it will ask a
U.S. bankruptcy judge for permission to liquidate if enough
striking workers do not return to work by the end of Thursday to
let the maker of Twinkies and Wonder Bread resume normal
operations.
Wednesday's announcement escalates a bitter dispute between
the 82-year-old company and the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco
Workers and Grain Millers International Union, whose members
constitute about one-third of Hostess' nearly 18,000 employees.
A union spokeswoman said the union would have no immediate
comment.
Workers at Hostess plants across the country had gone on
strike or refused to cross picket lines on Nov. 9 to protest pay
cuts that Hostess had in bankruptcy court won the right to
impose. That prompted the company at the time to raise the
specter of liquidation in case of a widespread strike.
On Wednesday, Hostess said that if enough striking workers
did not return to work by 5 p.m. EST (2200 GMT) the next day,
the company would on Friday ask U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert
Drain in White Plains, New York, who oversees its Chapter 11
reorganization, for permission to shut down and sell assets.
"We simply do not have the financial resources to survive an
ongoing national strike," Hostess Chief Executive Gregory
Rayburn said in a statement.
The Irving, Texas-based company had previously reached
agreement on pay and benefit cuts with the International
Brotherhood of Teamsters, its largest union.
Hostess said if it wins permission to liquidate, it will
begin to close all operations as soon as Nov. 20, two days
before Thanksgiving, and fire all plant workers except those
needed to prepare its facilities for sale.
Earlier this week, Hostess said the strike forced it to
permanently close three of its 36 bakeries, costing 627 jobs.
The company said it has 565 distribution centers and 570
bakery outlet stores, as well as the 33 other bakeries.
Hostess filed for protection from creditors on Jan. 11, its
second bankruptcy filing in less than three years, after failing
to win concessions on pension and health benefits. The company
had about $860 million of debt at the time.
The case is In re: Hostess Brands Inc, U.S. Bankruptcy
Court, Southern District of New York, No. 12-22052.
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