Following a strike by Hostess bakers in 2012, the executives behind soft and gooey loafs of Americana, the Twinkie, decided to close the doors and shut down the company rather than be extorted by union thugs and bosses.
After a break from American shelves for the first time since WWII, Hostess returned to the U.S. wearing a sombrero and carrying the stamp, “Made in Mexico.”
Today, union leaders representing workers for Nabisco are rolling the dice and doubling down in their opposition to their employer after a layoff of 277 workers in Chicago.
The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Worker and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) are taking to the streets in a “Check the Label” campaign to educate consumers on where products are made, and to only by goods produced in the good old U.S. of A.
The cause, which may seem noble, is part of a larger bid to protect jobs and higher wages and benefits for the 4,000 employees at Nabisco.
Nabisco is owned by Mondelez International, out of Illinois. The company has requested workers take a 60% pay cut in order to secure a $130,000,000 investment that protects the future of the company and its operations in the United States.
While the cut may seem drastic, bakers earn an average of $70,000 per year with benefits plus overtime pay.
The 60% pay cut would bring the average salary down to $28,000 per year, which is on par with unskilled labor at $14 per hour.
Unions are notorious for negotiating their way too far and Hostess is a prime example of the harm that union bosses can inflict on what would have been robust, American businesses.
The union bosses, however, will still keep their salary if Nabisco moves to Mexico. Two of the BCTGM’s executives earn over $100,000 per year for their destructive roles.