Market Basket gives ultimatum to protesters
Come back to work, or lose your job. That was the message Market Basket’s leadership sent this week to hundreds of employees protesting the firing of CEO Arthur T. Demoulas.
Boston.com reported that the Massachusetts-based grocery chain, with one store in Biddeford, said it needs workers back on Monday, Aug. 4. Expecting that not all of them will return, the company has already started advertising for positions at several stores. Some store managers have already pledged to resign if Demoulas doesn't return.
“We want Market Basket associates back to work and reiterate that they can return without fear of penalty,” Felicia Thornton and James Gooch, the company’s co-CEOs, said in a prepared statement. “We again acknowledge and understand how difficult this situation has been for associates. However, we also need to have associates working to support stores, customers and vendors.”
Market Basket will hold job fairs on Aug. 4 and 5 for current employees, with another round of job fairs on Aug. 6 for newcomers, the website noted.
The grocery chain’s board is reportedly considering several buyout options — contrary to previous reports that Demoulas was the only one making an offer.
The ongoing protests, which began in June when Demoulas and two other executives were fired, have left many stores, including the one in Biddeford, with empty shelves. They also have interrupted the grocery chain’s plan to open more stores in Maine.
In firing Demoulas, Market Basket’s board said that he was overspending and failing to follow board directives. But protesters have supported the ousted CEO in part because of his commitment to keep the chain family-owned and retain fair pay for employees — with experienced cashiers reportedly making $40,000 and full-time clerks starting at $12 an hour.
Market Basket, which owns 70 supermarkets between New Hampshire and Massachusetts, opened its first Maine store in Biddeford last August. The grocery chain's entry into Maine had been projected to drive down prices in competing stores as more non-traditional stores vie for the food-purchasing dollars of grocery shoppers, as reported by Mainebiz.
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