Hobby Lobby raises hourly wages

Hobby Lobby raises hourly wages

OKLAHOMA CITY

Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., a private retail chain with more than 500 arts-and- crafts stores in 41 states, announced Tuesday it will increase its minimum wage for all 15,300 full- and part-time workers nationwide.

Included in that number are employees of Hobby Lobby in Boardman, 472 Boardman-Canfield Road, and in Niles, 910 Great East Plaza.

Full-time employees will earn $13 per hour, up from $12. About half of Hobby Lobby workers are full-time employees.

Part-timers will make $9 per hour.

“Our employees are essential to the continued success of Hobby Lobby stores nationwide,” said David Green, CEO and founder of Hobby Lobby. “We believe they deserve to be recognized for their commitment to our company.”

Stouffer’s recall

WASHINGTON

Nestl Prepared Foods Co. is recalling approximately 16,890 pounds of Stouffer’s lasagna frozen entr es that instead may contain stuffed peppers, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced Tuesday.

The stuffed peppers contain Worcestershire sauce made with anchovies, a known allergen that is not declared on the lasagna labels. The following products are subject to recall: 191/8-ounce (542-gram) cartons of “Stouffer’s Lasagna Italiano” with a “best before” date of “JAN 2014.”

Each carton and case bears the establishment number “EST. 7991.” The cartons and cases also bear the package code “1349595513R” or “1349595513S.” No other package codes are affected by this recall. Additionally, each 191/8-ounce carton contains an identifying retail UPC code “13800 44709.” The products subject to recall were produced Dec. 15, 2011, and were shipped to retail establishments east of the Mississippi River.

Consumers with questions about the recall should call Nestl Consumer Services at 800-392-4057.

Hostess squares off with unions in court

LOS ANGELES

Bankrupt Twinkie-maker Hostess Brands Inc. is going toe-to-toe with its workers’ union in a clash that the company said may lead to its own liquidation.

A two-day trial began Tuesday in which Hostess will try to persuade a federal bankruptcy judge in New York to allow it to reject its existing collective-bargaining agreements with the Teamsters and bakers’ unions.

The maker of Ho Hos, Ding Dongs and Wonder Bread filed for Chapter 11 protection in January, less than five years after emerging from its last bout of bankruptcy. Its “unsustainable and uncompetitive cost structure” — which included high expenses related to labor, infrastructure and corporate overhead — was largely to blame, the company said.

The unions have rejected the company’s final cost-cutting proposal, which would lower pension benefits for the organizations’ members, tighten work rules and outsource some delivery work.

Vindicator staff/wire reports