Hostess Brands Inc. notified the state that it may lay off 381 employees in Michigan.Hostess Brands Inc. warned the state it could lay off all of its 381 employees in Michigan if the company liquidates as part of its bankruptcy restructuring.
Notices were sent on Friday to Hostess’ 18,500 employees nationwide. The company entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January.
“The notices were sent to alert employees that a sale or wind-down of the company is possible in the future,” spokesman Erik Halvorson said in a statement. “However, our goal is still to emerge from bankruptcy as a growing company and there are no immediate actions being taken to sell or wind down the company.”
The Irving, Texas-based company, known for its famous snack cakes, Wonder bread and other baked goods, employs 381 people at 20 locations in Michigan. All locations are either retail outlets, distribution centers or a combination of both, Halvorson said. Hostess does not have any bakeries in Michigan.
Locations in Troy and Detroit have the largest staffs with 65 employees, while its Livonia site employs 57. Other locations include Wyoming with 44 workers, Marysville with 27, Saginaw with 22, Flint with 19, Kalamazoo with 17 and Lansing with 15. The full list can be found here.
Related: Read the notice sent by Hostess.
Hostess emerged from bankruptcy in February 2009, but the “company’s cost structure left it poorly positioned to respond to a worsening economy, increased competition and consolidation in the industry that has given other bakery companies major economies of scale and workforce advantages,” according to a news release.
The company hopes to amend its labor contracts. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents about 7,500 Hostess employees nationwide and 200 in Michigan, said it’s willing to negotiate and tentatively agreed to $150 million in concessions and operational changes.
"But we will not let the Company force a poorly defined or inequitable Turnaround Plan on its employees that, despite our concessions, is destined to put Hostess out of business once and for all," Teamsters leaders wrote in a memo to its members.
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Related: Hostess bakery outlet workers in Kalamazoo may be among those laid off statewide
Email Melissa Anders at manders@mlive.com. Follow her on Twitter: @MelissaDAnders.