BIDDEFORD — With Arthur T. Demoulas, former head of the New England grocery chain Market Basket, still out of a job, employees in Maine showed their support on Monday. That afternoon, about a dozen employees at Maine’s only Market Basket grocery store located in Biddeford, held up signs supporting their former leader who was fired by the board of directors in late June. Demoulas was fired after his cousin and rival Arthur S. Demoulas got the backing of the company’s board of directors.
In addition to Arthur T. Demoulas and two other upper management staff members, eight other managers were fired on Sunday in response to the company’s corporate staff members, warehouse employees and truck drivers going on strike, according to Associated Press reports.
The company said the eight workers were fired because “their actions continued to harm the company, negatively impacted customers, and inhibited associates’ ability to perform their jobs.”
In his first statement since his firing, Arthur T. Demoulas urged the new leadership to rehire the employees who were fired for publicly protesting his dismissal.
In his statement, Arthur T. Demoulas said, “The success of Market Basket is the result of two things: a business model that works and the execution of it by a dedicated and impassioned team of associates.
“In the final analysis, this is not about me,” he stated. “It is about the people who have proven their dedication over many years and should not have lost their jobs because of it. I urge that they be reinstated in the best interest of the company and our customers.”
The strike in support of Demoulas began Thursday, which was the last day shipments from Market Basket’s two warehouses came to Biddeford and most of the company’s other 70 stores. In Biddeford and elsewhere, shelves in the produce department and seafood department are virtually empty and products in other areas of the store are also dwindling.
On Monday afternoon, Biddeford store manager Micum McIntire said that business was slow.
One of the reasons he had employees with signs outside of the store, he said, is “because we’re trying to educate people.”
Biddeford “is a new store,” said McIntire; August will be its one-year anniversary. Most of the customers here “don’t understand the history of the store or the loyalty of the employees” to Arthur T. Demoulas, he said.
He said the current strategy among the company’s 25,000 employees is to not stop showing their support for their former president until he is rehired.
If Demoulas is not rehired, said McIntire, “it will devastate the company.”
A number of Biddeford employees also attended a rally on Monday at the Market Basket in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, where the family-owned company headquarters are located.
According to media reports, thousands attended the rally.
Even New England elected officials have gotten involved. Over the weekend, several dozen Massachusetts lawmakers penned a letter calling for a boycott of the Market Basket stores in support of the workers.
On Monday, New Hampshire’s Gov. Maggie Hassan also issued a statement supporting the workers.
“It’s heartening to see just how much the workers of Market Basket value the company and respect its past, present and future,” she said. “Their demonstrations reinforce the strong bond that the company has developed with its employees. ”¦ I encourage Market Basket leadership to continue in that spirit by listening to their employees’ concerns and seeking to quickly address the situation.”
The Market Basket Board of Directors was expected to meet Monday afternoon but has not issued an updated statement on the protests.
In an open letter to customers published Saturday in The Boston Globe, Market Basket co-CEOs Felicia Thornton and Jim Gooch apologized to shoppers.
“Unfortunately, in response to the recent management changes, some have lost sight of the top priority ”“ taking care of you ”“ and instead have engaged in actions that harm Market Basket’s reputation and prevent us from meeting our obligations to you,” the letter said.
— The Associated Press contributed to this story. Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 324 or [email protected].
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less