Twinkies Maker Hostess Vows to Liquidate Company if Strikes Persist

Nov. 15, 2012— -- The end for Twinkies may just be hours away.

Hostess Brands Inc., the maker of the iconic snack, announced on Wednesday that it will liquidate the entire company if not enough striking employees return to work by Thursday evening.

"We simply do not have the financial resources to survive an ongoing national strike," Hostess CEO Gregory Rayburn said in a statement Wednesday. "Therefore, if sufficient employees do not return to work by 5 p.m., EST, on Thursday to restore normal operations, we will be forced to immediately move to liquidate the entire company, which will result in the loss of nearly 18,000 jobs."

After a 5 p.m. deadline came and went without workers returning, Hostess told ABC News it probably wouldn't announce whether it would file for bankruptcy until Friday morning. The company planned to issue updates via a website -- http://www.hostessstrike.info/

The strikes began on Nov. 9, when the company imposed a contract that would cut workers' wages by 8 percent. The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) said the contract would also cut benefits by 27 to 32 percent.

Hostess, which is privately owned by two hedge funds, has struggled in recent years with two bankruptcy filings. The company said it "has done everything in its power to pursue a reorganization of its business as a going concern, including spending the better part of 18 months negotiating with its key constituents to obtain a consensual agreement."

"It is now up to Hostess' BCTGM-represented employees and Frank Hurt, their international president, to decide if they want to call off the strike and save this company, or cause massive financial harm to thousands of employees and their families," Rayburn said.

If the strike continues, Hostess said it will file a motion on Friday to wind-down the company and sell all of its assets. If the U.S. Bankruptcy Court grants the motion, the company will then begin to close all of its operations as early as Nov. 20.

"Hostess Brands is making a mockery of the labor relations system that has been in place for nearly 100 years," union president Hurt said in a statement earlier this week. "Our members are not just striking for themselves, but for all unionized workers across North America who are covered by collective bargaining agreements."

The union, which represents more than 80,000 industry workers, maintains that the company's policies will bring its members back to workplace standards of the 1950s.

ABC News' David Wright and Alex Stone contributed to this report.