Workers at Peeps factory go on strike, threatening the Peepocalypse

By Kevin Pang | September 19, 2016 | 4:02pm

Aux Features Food

With repercussions stretching from Easter baskets to blood sugar-testing facilities nationwide, workers at the Pennsylvania factory that manufacture Peeps are about to enter their second week of strikes. At issue is a contractual disagreement between Just Born Inc.—the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania-makers of Peeps, Mike and Ike, and Hot Tamales—and union employees of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union Local 6. Workers are protesting the company’s proposal for future hires to enroll in a 401(k) plan rather than the pension program offered to current employees.

About 400 employees went on strike last Wednesday, just as the company was ramping up orders for Easter 2017. As one package handler told The Morning Call, employees held out until now to strike “because it kind of hits them the hardest. They need us more than they think.”