Class war in progress: Workers threaten walkout unless former CEO is reinstated

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The Market Basket situation has been an ongoing issue in New England for quite some time, and is now coming to a head- Employees have actually held rallies in support of the old management, and are now threatening a mass walkout today.

Under the management of Arthur DeMoulas, the supermarket chain grew from 15 to over 70 stores, built on a reputation for low consumer prices and high employee wages and benefits.

Recently, he was ousted by the board of directors, who want to focus instead on creating shareholder value- Which as you can probably guess, means lower wages and higher prices.

Now, the employees, allegedly backed by all 71 store managers, have released an ultimatum threatening to leave at 4:30 today if Arthur is not reinstated.

Thought you might all want to know about this.

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Keep us up to date.

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I’ll try- It’s been generating a lot of press up here. DeMoulas is one of the oldest, and the 127th largest privately held company in the US. They employ almost 25,000 people, so it’s not like it’s some little corner bakery.

Lately, the employees have been doing things to support the old management that are pretty much unbelievable in our current corporate climate: Using the weekly sale boards to instead post messages of support, placing huge signs not only in front of, but in corporate headquarters, and even stuffing flyers into customers’ bags. Some of the employees leading the revolt have been with the company 20, 30, 40 years- and not just baggers- there are high level managers and others right below the top.

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Wow! That’s amazing!

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Here’s an article with a copy of the rather unambiguous memo.

Peter Gulezian, manager of the Manchester Market Basket, expects workers at the corporate offices in Tewksbury, Mass., to walk off the job if the demand is not met.

Managers of all 72 New England Market Basket stores endorse the effort, Gulezian said. And while managers will stay on the job and keep stores open, he questions how long the stores will be able to operate.

The manager … said his store would run out of most perishable products in three days if the remaining workers at Market Basket headquarters abandon their jobs, a possibility in a looming corporate showdown.

The employees have also set up a website: www.wearemarketbasket.com

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thank you for posting this.

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Isn’t something like this seen as deep red communism in the US?

Will there be a crackdown by Pinkerton agents?

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And thus the murmur begins building to a rumble…

Looks like we’ll begin to see where we really stand, soonish…

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Almost a half hour past the deadline, and no news online yet.

I’m going to head over there now- I know someone that works at one of the stores, and I’m going to see if I can get the inside scoop. Plus, I have to do shopping. If it’s bad news, I may go to Hannaford instead.

UPDATE:

As of 6pm, there’s no official word as far as anyone at the store knows. This was on the daily special board outside:

demoulas.JPG1632×1224 678 KB

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UPDATE:

Walkout is scheduled for 9:30 tomorrow morning. It is expected to include workers from the corporate office.

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Rally is in progress near corporate headquarters. Boston Globe reports 2000 people, other estimates range from 1000 to 3500. A record number of people have called in sick. Protesters have released an official statement.

Local ABC affiliate reports here. FOX reports here.

Please help spread the word on this.

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