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Philadelphia bakery workers sign contract prior to merger

Posted on April 13th, 2011 Read time: 1 minutes

In the wake of Flowers Foods, Inc.'s agreement to buy out South Philadelphia's Tasty Baking Company, 249 of the bakery's workers consented on a four-year union contract, Philly.com reports.

Thomasville, Georgia-based Flowers Foods Inc. bought Tasty Baking Company, the maker of Tastykakes, for about $34.4 million in cash last week, according to BusinessWeek. The deal is worth an estimated $165 million, and Flowers is taking on Tasty's assumed debt in the process.

Tasty Baking Company's losses in the most recent fiscal year were a reported $45.2 million, a substantive increase from it's $3.4 million in losses a year earlier.

Tasty will become part of Flowers' direct-store-delivery service once the acquisition closes. The packaged goods company's current brands include Nature's Own and Whitewheat, and the merger will help the business extend its geographical reach, the media outlet explains.

The bankrupt company's workers had voted last August to join the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers' International Union. Flowers employs 8,800 people, however only 780 of them are contract workers, notes Philly.com. 

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