Utah Teamsters set up food pantry for Hostess Teamsters

The liquidation of Hostess couldn’t come at a worse time for thousands of workers who lost their jobs.

Local 222, which represents about 110 Hostess drivers in Utah, has organized a food pantry to support Hostess Teamsters during this difficult time.

Here’s what they reported on Facebook this weekend:

With the collapse of the American Icon Hostess, over 18,500 working Americans, Teamsters and Bakers both, have been cast out in the cold, just in time for Thanksgiving. Thanks investment bankers, may your holidays be full of self-reflection.

For the rest of us, we now have a group who will be needing some assistance. The Local will be putting together a Food Pantry. We will post longer lists of things needed as we are made aware.

Please feel free to swing by and drop off donations starting Monday. We will be looking for the normal types of goods:

Diapers of all sizes
Formula
Toilet paper
Feminine products
Canned foods: veggies, soups, meats, sauces
Boxed foods: soups, breads, instant dishes
Pasta
Uncooked Rice
Nonperishable food stuffs 

Let's pull together, Brothers and Sisters, and circle our wagons. This is what keeps us strong.

Rusty Hart, secretary-treasurer of Local 222, tells us the local already received a $2,500 contribution since posting the announcement:

We’re also going to put in about $2,500 worth of supplies from the local, so we have about $5,000 in total so far.

Brother Hart says standing up for each other in tough times is what the Teamsters are all about:

We wanted to set this up so that Teamsters can get the support they need from their brothers and sisters and the community. With the holiday season here, our members definitely need all the help they can get during this rough time

This morning, the local announced on Facebook that Mololo Gardens, a local business in downtown Salt Lake City, is donating 10 percent of its sales to the food pantry between now and Christmas Eve.

Hostess executives who plundered the Twinkies-maker and drove it into the ground won’t worry about putting food on the table. Even as they blamed union workers for the company's demise, 19 of them are asking the bankruptcy court to let them give themselves $1.75 million in bonuses after putting 18,500 people out of work. Nice holiday spirit.

Thankfully, Teamsters look out for one another. We hope others will give generously and lend a helping hand to Hostess Teamsters around the county.

Stay strong, brothers and sisters!