The union that Hostess Brands Inc. says sparked the baking company’s demise thinks it still has a part to play in the reinvention of some of America’s most popular brands.
David Durkee, the president of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union, whose November strike crippled Hostess’s operations, Thursday expressed confidence that his thousands of out-of-work members will find opportunity at the pieces of Hostess that are currently being sold at auction.
“From our perspective, the situation in 2012 comes off as a position of strength,” Durkee said, referencing the nationwide work stoppage. He said he thinks the union should be able to get a better deal from the new, still-to-be-decided owners of brands like Wonder bread and Twinkies as compared to the labor contracts that Hostess offered up during its second bankruptcy case.
“We’re just as confident as the day we struck,” he said.
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