OAKLAND, Calif. —
Members of the bakers union were walking a picket line Monday night at the Hostess Brand bakery in Oakland for a strike that could lead to the demise of the bankrupt company.
The Oakland plant is a distribution site for Hostess Twinkies and other snacks, as well as a bakery for Hostess-owned Colombo Bread.
The workers outside the location told KTVU they plan to picket 24/7 until the company agrees to sweeten their deal.
"We're taking the sacrifices for the mistakes that the CEOs, who claim they're going to bring us back," said bakery worker Carlos Deltoro. "But we're taking all the cuts. The CEOs aren't taking any cuts."
Most of the plant's 70 workers are joining a nationwide strike. 6,500 members of the bakers union walked out of 36 Hostess plants on midnight Saturday.
"I have three kids. I have two girls and one boy," said bakery worker Margarita Robles. "I have two in college right now."
Hostess – which makes Twinkies, Cupcakes and Ho Hos as well Wonder Bread – filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January. Workers told KTVU a court-imposed labor deal is not so sweet.
It involves an eight-percent pay cut, contributions to medical benefits and includes no overtime or holiday pay.
"At least half of these people were supposed to retire this year and last year, and they weren't able to retire because of the stop in the pension, said Deltoro
On Monday, Hostess closed plants in Seattle, St. Louis and Cincinnati due to the strike. Hostess spokesman Lance Ignon said the company could fold.
If the strike continues along the same lines, we will be facing the liquidation of the entire company in a matter of days, not weeks," said Ignon.
Hostess might well be victim to changing tastes in this health conscious era.
"I have a Twinkie, but I don't eat them much now, because they have a lot of corn syrup in them," said San Leandro resident Allie Unicorno.
Ignon said if Hostess exits Chapter 11, the company plans to expand to organic bread products.
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