New Maker of Twinkies Ditches Unions

HoHos, Ding Dongs, and, yes, Twinkies are coming back—without the union workers that once produced them. The reborn Hostess Brands LLC intends to cut ties with the Teamsters and the bakers' union, the CEO of Metropoulos & Co., which bought the bankrupt company along with Apollo Global Management, tells the Wall Street Journal. Metropoulos intends to spend $60 million to reopen four bakeries within the next 10 weeks, hiring at least 1,500 workers.

That's a far cry from the 19,000 workers Hostess Brands Inc. had pre-bankruptcy, 15,000 of whom were unionized. The bakers' union had expressed confidence that the reborn Hostess would re-hire its workers. "Only our members know how to get that equipment running," its president said. "A work force off the street will not be able to accomplish that." But Metropoulos observes that the plants are located in areas with high unemployment, and it's betting there's plenty of skilled labor eager for work, union or otherwise. Twinkies are expected to be back on store shelves in July. (More Metropoulos & Co. stories.)