Updated @ 5:10 p.m.

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) — Hostess Inc. announced today its permanently closing three bakeries in St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Seattle as a result of a nationwide strike that began Friday.

The St. Louis facility employs 365 people and produces Hostess cakes, Nature’s Pride and Wonder breads, according to the St. Louis Business Journal.

The company’s Seattle facility employs 110 people, and its Cincinnati facility employs 152 people.

Local Hostess workers took to the picket line Monday morning joining the nationwide strike.

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ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Hostess workers in St. Louis have joined a national strike as the company they work for struggles to pay its bills.

A walkout began Friday at several plants across the county after the company imposed a contract that would cut wages by 8 percent.

Picketers at North Broadway and Taylor kicked off the St. Louis end of the strike bright and early this morning, bearing the coldest temperatures thus far this fall.

Hostess Brands Inc. CEO Grey Rayburn told ABC News the faltering company cannot handle the industrial action.

“We’ve been very straight forward that the business can’t withstand the significant work stoppage,” he said. “If this strike continues, there is certainly a risk that Hostess will go out of business.”