Supermarket Workers, Customers Join in 'Unprecedented' Uprising Against Corporate Greed
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A family-feud over a New England supermarket chain is emerging as one of the most compelling labor fights of the summer as well as, observers note, a cautionary tale to corporate America about the value of treating one’s employees well.
On Tuesday, thousands of employees of the Market Basket supermarket chain—from cashiers to warehouse workers to top managers—rallied alongside supporters at a shopping complex in Tewksbury, Massachusetts in the fourth major demonstration since former CEO Arthur T. Demoulas was fired by a board headed by his cousin Arthur S. Demoulas in June.
Under the direction of Arthur T., affectionately referred to as “Artie T,” Market Basket was notorious in the region for providing good benefits and fair pay. Cashiers start at $12 an hour and the company shared their billions in profits with multiple yearly bonuses as well as scholarships for those workers enrolled in college.
In the three weeks since Artie T’s ouster, warehouse workers have refused to make deliveries, leaving shelves nearly empty, while most of the 25,000 employees across the chain’s 71 locations are on strike, many picketing outside the stores. In some locations, managers have advocated for customers to boycott, as well.
Though many agree the former CEO’s likable nature had won him widespread approval from his employees, many note that the “unprecedented” nature of the boycotts reveal a larger message about the nature of the corporate-worker relationship.
“It goes beyond loyalty to Arthur,” Steve Paulenka, 40-year employee and Market Basket supervisor of facilities and operations told the New York Times. “We’re worried about the direction of the company, our jobs, our profit-sharing.” Employees fear that the new management will prioritize shareholder returns over worker benefits.
Monday marked the deadline given by current co-CEOs Felicia Thornton and James Gooch to striking employees to return to work or risk being fired. The company is holding a series of job-fairs this week, which they announced in a number of full-page advertisements in local papers. According to reports, striking employees and supporters are protesting outside the fairs while customers are raising money to run advertisements of their own supporting the workers until their demands are met.
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