July 9, 2014 Market Basket workers demand ousted CEO be reinstated By Chris Gambon cgambon@eagletribune Market Basket employees demanded yesterday that the companys board of directors reinstate Arthur T. Demoulas as president and CEO only two weeks after the board removed him from that position. Around 75 Market Basket corporate employees gathered at the companys Tewksbury headquarters to inform chief operating officer Felicia Thornton and chief administrative officer James Gooch they would no longer be communicating with the newly appointed senior management. Thornton and Gooch were elected to their positions on June 23, the same day Demoulas was removed as CEO along with two other top executives — Director of Operations Bill Marsden and Vice President of Grocery Joe Rockwell. Supervisor of Operations for Market Basket Joe Schmidt said the uncertainty employees have experienced since the firing of Arthur T. Demoulas led to the ultimatum delivered yesterday. There have been questions in the last two weeks regarding costs, benefits to employees and obviously the loss of senior management, Schmidt said. In the best interest of customers, a mandate was provided to the board to reinstate Arthur T. Demoulas as CEO. Schmidt said employees have not received a response from the board, but expect to soon. Calls for comment to the Market Basket board of directors were not returned. Its evident the current direction of the company has caused great concern among customers and employees, Schmidt said. The co-CEOs have been told employees at our corporate office will no longer be in communication with them until Arthur T. Demoulas is reinstated. The Demoulas family has feuded over management of the company for more than 20 years, with Arthur T. Demoulas cousin and chief rival, Arthur S. Demoulas, gaining board control last year. While Arthur T. Demoulas kept his position then, Arthur S. Demoulas won a court judgment to distribute $300 million to shareholders, which Arthur T. Demoulas opposed. The chain began nearly a century ago in Lowell with a store owned by Greek immigrants Arthur and Efrosini Demoulas, whose sons modernized the business and expanded it. North Andover Market Basket Store Director Joe Amaral said while he was unaware of yesterdays meeting until after it happened, he and the employees of his store stood in solidarity with those who did attend. This company has been successful because of the philosophies of Arthur T. Demoulas, Amaral said. Weve grown because of him and wed like it to remain that way. The majority of employees and management feel that way. The decision to cease communication with senior management was unanimous among employees attending the meeting, Schmidt said, including company managers, directors, supervisors, buyers and assistants. The more than 25,000 employees of Market Basket stand in support of Arthur T. Demoulas and the mandate to reinstate him as CEO, he said. After talk began last year of a possible ouster of Demoulas, Market Basket employees created the Save Market Basket Facebook page. Employees took to that page yesterday to explain their demands. Resistance has turned into defiance. Thornton and Gooch were placed here by the board and they have had two and a half weeks to try and gain a toehold of legitimacy. They have failed. Today we have declared our independence from them and we encourage all stores to do the same, the Save Market Basket Facebook page posted yesterday.
Posted on: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 02:58:21 +0000
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