Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) issued a statement today, responding to the sale of the iconic Twinkies brand.
 
In response to Metropoulos & Co. CEO C. Dean Metropoulos' statement to The Wall Street Journal that the company will not hire union workers when reopening four former Hostess Brands bakeries, BCTGM International President David B. Durkee issued the following statement on behalf of all BCTGM members:

The 18,000 members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) who've made our Twinkies and other classic snacks have a new ally in their struggle for their jobs and pensions and the brand's survival. The bakery workers' pension fund has engaged a prominent New York investment banking firm in connection with Hostess Brands' Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, BCTGM announced.

This is an excerpt of Through the Eyes of a Union Member: The Slow Demise of an American Baking Company, which appeared on the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) blog. 

The following story was sent to us by a retired BCTGM Local 24 member. It is a true account of a dedicated bakery worker who grew up in and with Interstate Bakeries Corp. (IBC), in its various forms. Like his father before him, he spent his career working hard and supporting his family with good wages and the protection of a union contract. And like his father, he watched as the company was mismanaged and began the spiral of demise.

As part of its liquidation filing, Hostess is requesting approval to pay $1.75 million in bonuses to executives—the same executives who ran the company so poorly it is closing its doors and liquidating its assets.

"Giving Thanks for Hostess Workers" is a cross-post from Daily Kos by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. 

 This is the new American story, but someone finally stood up and said, “Stop!”

Pundits should be applauding the Bakery Workers of Hostess Brands for standing up to Wall Street interests and standing for decent working standards and the middle class.

The truth is that the Bain-style vulture capitalists invested in Hostess to profit not by making quality products, but by bleeding the company of every dollar before discarding it.

While Hostess Brands is trying to scapegoat the workers and members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM), the real cause of the company's collapse can be traced back to its crony capitalism and consistently poor management. 

Hostess Brands, the company that has brought us such iconically American snacks as Twinkies, yesterday filed for bankruptcy protection for the second time since 2004. But the move does more than affect our universal sweet tooth—it has vast repercussions for some 5,000 workers, members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM).