My Letter to Governor Patrick- Dear Governor Patrick- I read with bewilderment your statements in todays Boston Herald with respect to the situation at Market Basket. As a long standing customer of Market Basket, I have intently watched and followed in great detail what has unfolded. I would like to take the opportunity to point out a few key things you may not be aware of, or are simply misinformed about. 1) Both parties have already agreed to a price. That has been well established and the offer made by Arthur T. Demoulas far exceeds the current market value of the company. His offer was to pay the full value of the 50.5% shares before this got out of hand. 2) The current board of directors wants to dictate the financing aspects of this offer in order to continue to profit beyond getting a share price that is overvalued at current. No seller is able to dictate the financing arrangement so long as the offer is accepted and paid for. The Board of Directors is responsible for this hold up and no one else. 3) If protesting employees were to return to work, the company has proven it cannot meet its financial obligations at current. How will they meet payroll? The underlying matter here is that customers such as myself refuse to support this company with its current management team in place who have consistently broken multiple labor laws during this process. You can staff the stores, but it wont make shoppers return. What service could they possibly provide to non-existent customers? 4) Although I acknowledge many employees have chosen not to report to work, many warehouse and corporate office employees have in fact attempted to report to work to be turned away by what could best be described as hired thugs and told to go home and leave the property. I am sure you are aware that the warehouse and corporate office employees all received letters this week informing them that they must return to work or they will be removed from payroll for abandoning their jobs. It seems the company is taking further illegal measures to ensure these individuals are terminated. As far as the other employees, legally the company does not need to pay them, but what they are doing is considered a Strike and there are laws in place to protect them as well. 5) I agree it may seem silly on the surface that it appears the protest stems from having a boss of their choice. The people are not fighting for their bosses, they are fighting for a CEO of their choice. Have you taken the time to do any research on Felicia Thornton or James Gooch, the co-CEOs? Their resumes are a clear indication of what the true intent of this company is, to simply sell it off. There are affidavits, especially one signed by Jack Demoulas, that clearly spell out this intent and his initial protest to the ideas. The end result of these type sales are that people lose jobs, it is proven fact. Just look at what Mrs. Thornton accomplished at Albertsons and what Mr. Gooch was able to accomplish for his previous employers, Radio Shack, Sears and K-Mart. The latter three companies should resonate and be quite familiar to you as well Governor as they all laid off workers and closed locations in Massachusetts to the detriment of your economy and the livelihoods of your constituents. I would suggest you speak to your fellow Governors of Southern and Southwestern states to gain their opinions of the aftermath of Mrs. Thornton’s actions at Albertsons. I would also like to point out that a gentleman by the name of Arthur St. John who is 94 years of age and worked for Market Basket for 22 years was recently let go because the company had no hours for him. He never participated in the Boycott and reported to work each and every day. He never participated. This is what the current Market Basket management team is doing to those they can call nothing other than loyal. So, Governor Patrick, what initially started as a employee boycott has morphed into a widespread customer boycott. It is the customer that is now controlling this situation while the management team at Market Basket continues to make unfair demands of its employees, is negotiating in bad faith with Arthur T. Demoulas and has insulted every single one of its customers by referring to us as hostages. Sir, I am no hostage. My choice to not shop at Market Basket was my own. This, Governor, is what you and the media are failing to understand. Customers are rallying at current, not employees, scheduled for this Friday night in Manchester, NH and Saturday evening in Tewksbury, MA. Again, let me repeat, Customers, not employees are doing this. In fact, I invite you attend to gain a better understanding of the reality of this situation. This entire situation is about the little people standing up to corporate greed that is running rampant in this great Country. It is the same greed many politicians seem to support and why approval levels of politicians are at an all time low. The Market Basket story is quite remarkable. Best pay, best benefits, lowest turnover, longest tenures and highest margins. Oh, and CEO who actually gave a damn about his employees. Never in the history of this great Country have any group of workers banded together and remained steadfast in their resolve to support a CEO, never. Governor Patrick, with all due respect, I would like to point out that it appears you personally have a conflict of interest in this matter as well, and potentially some bias. It does appear your wife is employed by the law firm that represents Arthur S. Demoulas in this matter and not only is she employed by that firm, she personally is involved. I know you are not seeking reelection, but quite frankly your statements are as shallow as the statements that are coming from the corporate offices at Market Basket. Now is the time to make a choice as to whether you wish to support tens of thousands of your constituents that are employed, supply or shop at Market Basket or whether you want to side with a handful of wealthy board members that have no intent of securing and maintaining the existence of one of the greatest business success stories out there. You know, the same board members that stand to gain additional wealth by simply doing the right thing and giving in to what their employees and customers want for the betterment of your economy and the economies of your neighboring states to the North. Again, Manchester, NH this Friday and Tewskbury, MA this Saturday. Please join and get the facts. Respectfully, Kevin D. Barry
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 23:35:50 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015