Victory for Market Basket Workers and Customers!
Our heartfelt congratulations to the employees of Market Basket! After several weeks of collective action, these employees, with customer support, have successfully pushed the company board to sell the supermarket chain back to ousted CEO Arthur T. Demoulas. We applaud their efforts and success.
This is a great example of how workers who stand together can achieve their goals. Workers at all levels risked being fired to support the boss who had respected them and who had treated them with dignity and respect. It is especially noteworthy and unusual that Market Basket managers stood in solidarity with the other protesting employees, refusing orders to return to work, even though managers have fewer labor law protections than rank-and-file employees.
For further background about this dispute and the labor laws involved, see articles quoting Messing, Rudavsky & Weliky senior partner Ellen J. Messing:
Some Market Basket workers told to report to work or be fired (Boston Globe 8/12/14)
Ousted Market Basket CEO Demoulas: Re-hire fired workers (Boston Herald 7/22/14)
Market Basket Deadline Day: What Are The Legal Options? (WGBH & New Hampshire Public Radio 8/4/14)
Can Market Basket fire its employees? (Nashua Telegraph 8/5/14)
Market Basket Employee Files Complaint With National Labor Relations Board (WGBH 8/26/14)