John Curley


AP: e9728602-87fc-4a76-a897-0105344a63be
People are shown standing in the parking lot at the Utah Hostess plant in Ogden, Utah, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012. (AP Photo)

John Curley says it's no wonder Hostess has failed

BY Stephanie Klein  on November 16, 2012 @ 10:58 am (Updated: 11:15 am - 11/16/12 )

About 250 people in Washington are out of job Friday after Hostess decided to close its doors.

Read: Twinkie maker Hostess reaches end of the line

Many of the employees worked at the plant in South Lake Union and the remaining were at plants in Kent and in Pierce County.

The company had already filed for bankruptcy this year, but it was trying to stay afloat. It couldn't survive a strike by 30-percent of its work force over a pay cut.

More than 18,000 people nationwide are now out of work.

"Hopefully somebody else will come in and start the bakery up and hire the experienced workers," said David Douglas, a Hostess worker in St. Louis.

John Curley said on Seattle's Morning News he's not surprised Hostess is calling it quits.

"People stopped eating white bread. People stopped eating Twinkies," said Curley, who said Wonder Bread became irrelevant as soon as we had cheap options for wheat, multi-grain, etc.

Not only that, but Curley is guessing fewer people bring their old, metal lunch boxes to work, which means they're not carrying around a packaged Ding Dong or Ho-Ho.

KIRO Radio reporter Chris Sullivan expects we can blame some of the sales loss to healthier options in vending machines, both at work and in schools.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm going to miss Wonder Bread. Every so often a good peanut butter and jelly sandwich on Wonder Bread is awesome."

Curley is going to miss Ding Dongs the most. Ursula Twinkies, and Sullivan the Ho-Ho.

KIRO Radio reporter Chris Sullivan contributed to this report.

Stephanie Klein, MyNorthwest.com Editor
Stephanie joined the MyNorthwest.com team in February 2008. She has built the site into a two-time National Edward R. Murrow Award winner (Best Radio Website 2010, 2012).
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Comments (44)


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  • Hayduke wrote...
    OK, AJ, if the DailyKos, is too lefty for you, how about the Wall Street Journal? Or is Rupert Murdoch a socialist union lover?
    November 19, 2012 11:11 am
    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304072004577323993512506050.html

    And if you want to talk about "greedy" workers, how about you read what the article has to say about how Hostess sidestepped bankruptcy laws in order to give huge bonuses to its execs at the expense of its workers.

    Or is that just the wonders of your "free market" at work here, too?

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
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