Hostess was just trying to stay solvent

What is going to happen to the workers of Hostess? What about their jobs? Didn’t the strikers realize that Hostess was already struggling and had to cut wages to keep the business alive? I think that having a job with lower pay and lower benefits is better than what the workers have now: nothing.

This incident is not like the strike against the Pullman Palace Car Co. in 1894 when the owner, George Pullman, slashed workers’ wages without cutting their rent costs. Pullman was still trying to gain a profit when going through the depression of 1893. This is not like that! Hostess is not trying to benefit at the employees expense, they are just trying to stay in business.

It is, however, similar to the Homestead Strike at the Carnegie Steel Co., when the workers lost their jobs after striking for better pay/conditions because the plant closed.

Over 18,000 people are going to lose their jobs if Hostess closes. I think that some other company should buy Hostess so that the workers won’t lose their jobs, and so their wages and benefits won’t have to be cut.

Denise Casali

Mundelein