Twinkie-Maker Gives Teamsters Brutal ‘Last, Best’ Offer

[xchrom]

http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/13709/brutal_giveback_demands_by_hostess_to_face_vote_by_rank-and-file_teamsters/


Teamsters protest giveback demands from Hostess Brands during an April demonstration in Denver. (International Brotherhood of Teamsters)

A long standoff between the Teamsters and the corporate managers at Hostess Brands may be nearing a resolution. Rank-and-file union members will begin voting next week on a new labor agreement containing dramatic concessions.

Teamsters secretary-treasurer Ken Hall announced late last week that the union had received a “last, best and final offer” from the company–famed for making products like Wonder Bread and Twinkies–and that some 7,500 Teamster members employed at Hostess will vote directly on the proposal. Mail ballots will be sent out next week and the returned ballots counted on Sept. 14, Hall said.

The vote is the latest development in a seven-month standoff between the Teamsters and Hostess, which filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition in January and demanded sweeping concessions from its unionized workforce. Failure by the Teamsters and several other unions to agree to the concessions will mean the final collapse of Hostess and the loss of all 17,000 jobs at the company, Hostess officials have said.

That the cuts will be painful is clear, although the Teamsters are withholding the full details pending the vote. Hostess CEO Gregory Rayburn sent out a letter to employees August 20 estimating that--for all workers, including management--wages would be cut by 8 percent next year and givebacks in health care insurance would further reduce overall income. The proposal would also erase millions in pensions owed to workers and relieve the company of any requirement to make pension fund contributions for the next three years.

[JDPriestly]

1. I'm really sorry for the workers, but Wonder Bread and Twinkies?

Who eats those things anyway?