Hey OKBOWMAN et al...
I can tell you how I would have negotiated this "30% reduction in pay to save the company" crap.
The buckwheat would have been sorted from the bullshit in about 3 sentences and everyone would have known who was...and wasnt serious about "saving the company".
1. I'll agree to a 30% decrease ONLY if every single employee from the CEO to janitors take the same cut in salary and benefits.
2. If Hostess folds the tent within 2 years, you backpay all the employees the 30% you took to "save the company".
3. If the company is out of the red and making money after 2 years, you restore wages and we move on.
If they didnt agree to those 3 items...kiss my ass, you already planned on closing the doors anyway. Negotiations over.
Sounds eminently reasonable. I wonder if this kind of tactic was tried in the case of Hostess? Of course, a really good manager who was there for the long haul would already have put something to cut his own salary on the table in order to create some sense of good faith.
