Last updated on July 21st, 2014 at 12:55 pm
An estimated crowd of 1,000 Market Basket employees and customers staged a rally Friday morning outside Market Basket headquarters in Tewksbury, Mass., to protest and demand the reinstatement of former Market Basket President Arthur T. Demoulas.
David McLean, who served as Market Basket operations manager for 38 years and resigned upon the firing of Mr. Demoulas in June, commented after the rally: “I am amazed but not surprised by this display of loyalty to Arthur T. Demoulas. There is no better team than the Market Basket family of associates. They are passionate, dedicated and loyal—to both Market Basket and Arthur T. Together we have built this company. We are very worried about these hard-working people and their families. Family has always been our top priority. And that will never change.”
The co-chief executive officers of Market Basket were attempting to arrange meetings between associates and the board of directors to discuss worker demands to reinstate Demoulas. Co-CEOs Felicia Thornton and Jim Gooch urged workers to decide individually whether to participate in a job action but warned of consequences. “If you choose to abandon your job or refuse to perform your job requirements, you will leave us no choice but to permanently replace you.” The new CEOs said the power to reinstate Demoulas lies with the board of directors who terminated him.
Reports indicate that a number of employees have been fired since the rally. Go here to read more.
