"I would like for them to come here and look my children in the eyes and tell them why they're not having a Christmas... "
Monday marked the final day of business at the Hostess store in Millard... and the end of a 16-year career for store manager Ruby Byars.
She's among the thousands of Hostess employees who are out of work after the company folded and filed for bankruptcy following a crippling strike by a small percentage of workers.
"We thought that they would come to their senses and go back to work," says Byars. "Instead, they chose to strike. Now 18,000 of us are paying their price. I would like for them to come here and look my children in the eyes and tell them why they're not having a Christmas... because we don't have a job."
Carol Stutz is also out of work. But she's touched by the generosity of one longtime customer. "She wrote each of us a check for a hundred dollars. We've got her number and we're going to call and thank her."
On Monday, the makers of Twinkies agreed to mediation with the union.
The shelves at the Hostess store in Millard, however, remain bare.
