Hostess management, which is currently blaming unions for killing the Twinkie, awarded company execs absurdly large raises around the same time as filing for bankruptcy in January 2012 - including a 300% pay raise for then-CEO Brian Driscoll.
According to the the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union:
"As the company was preparing to file for bankruptcy earlier this year, the then CEO of Hostess was awarded a 300 percent raise (from approximately $750,000 to $2,550,000) and at least nine other top executives of the company received massive pay raises. One such executive received a pay increase from $500,000 to $900,000 and another received one taking his salary from $375,000 to $656,256."
I know this 300% pay raise has been mentioned within other diaries (e.g.
Mark E Anderson's), but I wanted to add a diary highlighting just this one data point, because it's such a striking piece of evidence undermining the myth that organized labor killed Hostess.