CEO Greg Rayburn of Hostess Brand – the parent company of Twinkies – explained on CNBC this morning that the strike wielded by the bakers union effectively killed the company.

News broke this morning that the company would be liquidated, effectively ending production of the iconic Twinkie sponge cakes.

Rayburn said that he was able to get an agreement with several of their unions including the Teamsters Union, but that the Bakers Union went on strike last Friday, in spite of warnings from company management that it would kill the company.

“I don’t know if they thought that was a bluff or if they thought there was some other better outcome, but that is essentially why we are where we are today,” Rayburn explained.

“30 percent of our workforce has put 18,500 people out of a job,” Rayburn said. “That’s a lot of families.”

(video via Washington Free Beacon)