Bankrupt Hostess Brands Inc., makers of iconic snack treat Twinkies, has
been paralyzed by workers' striking over diminished health benefits and
longer work days.
Striking workers formed a picket line at the company's Sacramento,
Calif., plant Sunday, two days after the walkout began when the company
imposed a contract that would cut wages by 8 percent. The Bakery,
Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union
said the contract would also cut benefits by 27 to 32 percent.
The Twinkie has become such an iconic snack food that when she was first
lady, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton included it in the millennium
time capsule. But Irving, Texas-based Hostess might soon be history
after workers launched the strike Friday.
Hostess CEO Grey Rayburn said the faltering company cannot handle the industrial action.
"We've been very straight forward that the business can't withstand the
significant work stoppage," he said. "If this strike continues, there is
certainly a risk that Hostess will go out of business."
Although many kids across the county haven't lost their taste for
Twinkies, the cake invented in the 1930s, some moms have. During the
1980s and 1990s, Hostess lost market share as mothers recognized there
were healthier lunchbox choices than carbohydrate-rich snack cakes and
white bread.
The company, which is privately owned by two hedge funds, has struggled
in recent years with two bankruptcy filings, and is locked in a battle
with the bakers union.
"Hostess Brands is making a mockery of the labor relations system that
has been in place for nearly 100 years," union President Frank Hurt said
in a statement. "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.
Copyright 2012 by ABC News
