Teamsters break off talks, threaten Twinkie maker with strike

Teamsters break off talks, threaten Twinkie maker with strike Just weeks after Interstate Bakeries said it would eliminate the Wonder Bread brand from Southern California shelves and layoff nearly 1,300 workers, the company is now faced with a possible strike by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
   Talks between the bakery firm and the union broke down Monday.
   It is only the latest blow to the Kansas City, Mo.-based Interstate — producer of such products as Twinkies, Ding Dongs, and Hostess snack cakes — which has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for three years.
   Teamsters officials told the Associated Press that 800 of the union's members employed by Interstate may be the first to go out on strike, but that the strike would likely be honored by the more than 9,000 other Teamsters working for the bakery firm throughout the country.
   “The barn is on fire, but I don’t know if anyone is coming to put it out,” Rick Volpe, the union’s international director, told The Kansas City Star. “If they walk in L.A., they’ll spread their picket lines to every facility Interstate has, and knowing the Teamsters, they’ll honor the picket lines. I can’t speak for the other (unions) but then push comes to shove. Do we let the company burn up? I’m hoping someone gets a little smarter before that happens.”
   Interstate's union workers have already agreed to a 4 percent pay cut and wage freeze, and the union claims Interstate's negotiators are asking for a 25 percent wage cut for about half of the Teamster workers and additional worker contributions for health care.
   A spokesperson for Interstate told the Star that the firm is seeking $20 million in health care contributions from its union employees and acknowledged that about 20 percent of the firm's union workers would see wage reductions under its contract proposal.