Here is a question. If the company was so poorly run, why did some of the employees get together and open and new company and see if they could do it better?
There are millions out there right now that would love to earn 12 bucks an hour and work 60 hours a week. But the unions think they can demand whatever they want. Executive pay is just like any other pay. It is generally market based.
If you are a struggling company and you need to bring in top people to run it, you will have to pay whatever it takes to entice them to come work for you. This is a lot of money when you are talking about huge corporations. Why the CEO of Pepsi leave his 2 million a year job to go try and savlage Hostess for a half million a year?
There are a lot of small bakeries in this country. If you do not like your pay at Hostess, then go open your own bakery.