"Every day there are people in our world that do absolutely amazing things. People of all ages are very capable of doing tremendous, courageous things in spite of their fear."
-Mairead Corrigan
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
-Eleanor Roosevelt
HERE'S a great story about a corporate CEO who actually took care of his employees, customers and business, was pushed out by relatives who expressed their greed for more of the company profits for them and less for the employees and the workers remaining united enough to return the good CEO to power. Not only do we need more CEOs like Arthur T DeMoulas, we need more workers like the Market Basket employees who stood together and fought the greed of corporate America, and won! From +Daily Kos and +NPR .....
Wed Aug 27, 2014 at 10:02 PM PDT
A Saga Concludes: Market Basket Reopens For Business
Let me tell you a story about a CEO, one who has so much loyalty from
his workers that they went on strike to get him reinstated after he was
fired.
First, a little background.
My first encounter with the DeMoulas name was as a kid growing up in Massachusetts. The logo was splashed on most of the little milk cartons I drank at school as a young puppy. However, outside of the dairy goodness and a few businesses here and there with the name on the side, I didn't really encounter the name again until I moved to Somerville MA over a decade ago. That was my first encounter with Market Basket.
People outside the Northeast US most likely won't have heard about Market Basket. It's a grocery store chain with over 70 stores in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. My sister likes shopping there because it has low prices and good quality food, and will walk the extra mile past the Whole Foods near her home. I don't shop there often enough, but it's on my radar and I have no problems with their selection or prices.
This summer, the company board voted to fire its CEO, Arthur T. DeMoulas. The person who most wanted him out was his cousin, Arthur S. DeMoulas, whose part of the family had the majority of the stock but who had one relative who kept supporting Arthur T. until recently. What followed was one of the more interesting strikes and boycotts in recent Boston memory, as hundreds of workers walked off the job and thousands of workers stopped shopping at Market Basket, all in order to get Arthur T. back on the job. More after the calligraphic squiggle of love.
First, a little background.
My first encounter with the DeMoulas name was as a kid growing up in Massachusetts. The logo was splashed on most of the little milk cartons I drank at school as a young puppy. However, outside of the dairy goodness and a few businesses here and there with the name on the side, I didn't really encounter the name again until I moved to Somerville MA over a decade ago. That was my first encounter with Market Basket.
People outside the Northeast US most likely won't have heard about Market Basket. It's a grocery store chain with over 70 stores in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. My sister likes shopping there because it has low prices and good quality food, and will walk the extra mile past the Whole Foods near her home. I don't shop there often enough, but it's on my radar and I have no problems with their selection or prices.
This summer, the company board voted to fire its CEO, Arthur T. DeMoulas. The person who most wanted him out was his cousin, Arthur S. DeMoulas, whose part of the family had the majority of the stock but who had one relative who kept supporting Arthur T. until recently. What followed was one of the more interesting strikes and boycotts in recent Boston memory, as hundreds of workers walked off the job and thousands of workers stopped shopping at Market Basket, all in order to get Arthur T. back on the job. More after the calligraphic squiggle of love.
Arthur T. is not your typical CEO type. He would visit the various
stores personally, talking with the workers about the store, ways to
improve it, what-have-you. What's more, he listened to his employees and
made an effort to take care of them. Wages and benefits at the chain
are above industry average, and workers are proud to say they work
there. The employees felt a strong connection to Arthur T. and his
management style.
When Arthur S. got his brother fired, the workers were incensed. Arthur T. had done more than just be a good person to chat with and a respectful boss. During his tenure as CEO the company grew at a good clip, never taking on debt to finance an expansion, and generally paying good dividends to family shareholders in addition to good wages to employees.
Workers were worried that the ouster of Arthur T. would mean a sea change at the stores, including but not limited to worse working conditions and lower pay. So, even without a union on hand, workers went on strike. Employees from baggers to cashiers to stockers to warehouse to mid-level management all walked off the job and stood in picket lines. Even without union protection, something they'd never needed under Arthur T., they walked.
Sales at Market Basket stores took a nosedive. People who knew Soviet-era Russia store shelves would think they'd walked into a store out of Moscow in the 1980s--no produce, very few cans, a wasteland of empty aisles with barely any shoppers.
Employees got nasty letters about abandoning their jobs, but they stayed in front of the stores with signboards. The governors of both Massachusetts and New Hampshire asked workers to go back on the job, to no avail. Only the return of Arthur T. DeMoulas would bring them back.
Two hours ago, the Boston Globe reported that the side of the family that kicked Artie T. out would sell their complete remaining interest in the company to Artie T's side of the family. For the first time the chain will take on private equity debt, which might be a worrisome thing given the shambles the chain is in after over a month of walkouts and practically no customers, but suppliers and workers all seem ready to make it work again.
Arthur S. Demoulas and his side of the family isn't leaving empty-handed. They're getting over $1.5 billion for their share of the company. That's good eating money.
All I know is, as soon as the kids are in school for a day I'm heading to Market Basket and thanking the employees for their bravery. And putting some things in a grocery cart.
We need more CEOs like Arthur T. DeMoulas.
Market Basket Workers Win Return Of Supermarket's Former President
Supermarket workers wanted their ousted CEO to be put back in charge and they got their way. Now Market Basket trucks are rolling once again in New England. A six-week-old walkout had brought the supermarket chain to its knees. It's an astonishing victory by non-union labor, but at what cost? From member station WBUR in Boston, Curt Nickisch reports.
CURT NICKISCH, BYLINE: For the first time since he was fired as CEO in June, Arthur T. Demoulas parked at company headquarters in Duxbury, Massachusetts and begin his work day. Hundreds of workers greeted him, back on the job too, just hours after the deal was signed for Demoulas to buy-out his rival cousin in the family-owned business. He climbed onto the back of a pickup truck and told workers he loved them.
ARTHUR DEMOULAS: You, and only you, have got the professors and the CEOs at the workplace here at Market Basket so much more than just a job.
(CHEERING)
NICKISCH: The company's 25,000 employees could hardly believe it. They'd been afraid they'd lose their bonuses and positive work environment under the replacement executives so they brought the $4 billion firm to a standstill and made history by winning back their CEO. Bill Nascimento is a bakery manager at one of the company's 71 full-service supermarkets.
BILL NASCIMENTO: There's no words for it. I'm just happy, you know? This is what we were dreaming every single day.
NICKISCH: At a Market Basket warehouse, the forklifts are rolling again,
BRIAN KELLEHER: These guys are loading the trucks going to the stores, these are all loaded up ready to go, full trailers, ready to get this out of here.
NICKISCH: Warehouse manager Brian Kelleher knows that the sooner stores have food on their shelves, the sooner Market Basket can make money again.
KELLEHER: You got dog food, you got tuna fish, you got pickles - I mean, you got everything that these people need right now to get everybody on track to get their groceries in their cupboards and try to get those customers back on board with us, which I'm sure they will be.
NICKISCH: But that's an open question. The walkout forced customers to do their grocery shopping elsewhere and they may not all come back. It could also take weeks to restore relationships with food suppliers. Frank Hoy researches family businesses at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He says after losing millions of dollars, Market Basket is now in a very different financial position.
FRANK HOY: You know, whatever happens, you know, there's going to be debt to be serviced that this company hasn't had to deal with before. And that almost certainly means belt-tightening.
NICKISCH: That's because as part of the deal, returning CEO Arthur T. Demoulas is replacing his rival family members with new investors. He's reportedly getting money from a private equity firm and a commercial bank. The company culture may be stronger than ever in this astounding victory, but the worker walkout has resulted in a new test for Market Basket. For NPR News, I'm Curt Nickisch in Boston.
If your boss was fired, would you walk off the job in protest?
That's what's happening at the New England grocery store chain Market Basket, which has 25,000 employees. Business at Market Basket stores has slowed to a trickle as workers disrupt operations, stage protests and ask shoppers to stay away.
They say CEO Arthur T. Demoulas treats them well, and they want him reinstated.
Outside the Market Basket store in Somerville, Mass., a dozen workers wave protest signs as cars honk in support. Gabriel Pinto, a bagger, says he wants the new top executives gone.
"We're here to get support from all the customers and try and make sure no one comes in. We want Artie T. back," Pinto says.
He's referring to Arthur T., not his cousin and boardroom rival Arthur S. Demoulas. Their battle for control of the company has now spilled over into the 71 supermarkets.
Inside the Somerville store, only three checkout aisles are open. None of them has a line. The entire produce section is barren.
At the deli counter at the back of the store, Adelaide Leonardo is stocking the display case with cheese that may just end up spoiling. Fliers are taped to the glass. One says: "Boycott Market Basket." Another says: "Bring back A-T-D, our one true leader."
Leonardo agrees. "We know everybody. We know the customers," she says. "We are family here."
Yet family is the reason Market Basket is in a muddle. Cousins Arthur T. and Arthur S. are both grandsons of a Greek immigrant, also named Arthur Demoulas, who opened a small grocery in working-class Lowell, Mass., nearly a century ago. Two of his sons grew it into a regional supermarket chain. Their sons have been feuding for decades. An epic legal battle between the two in the 1990s featured a courtroom fistfight. Last month, Arthur S. gained control of the board and ousted Arthur T. That's when workers surprised themselves with their power to grind business to a standstill.
"We're going to survive. We stay strong," says store manager
Daniel Rivera, who's been at the company for 24 years. Rivera says
workers are fiercely loyal to the ousted CEO for treating them well.
Everyone gets quarterly bonuses. The pay is decent. Rivera says Arthur
T. Demoulas often came through the stores, making it clear he cares more
about people than money.
"Like I say, I work in different companies before, and I never have owners come in to me and say, 'How you doing today?' or 'How's your family?' It's great," Rivera says.
Those loyal workers have brought the company to its knees. Market Basket is losing an estimated $10 million per day.
John Davis, the head of the Families in Business program at
Harvard Business School, says there's still time for the two Demoulas
cousins to put aside their egos and save the company.
"Hopefully, there's enough love in this family, not for one another anymore but for the legacy of their fathers, that this family will do the right thing and re-create a stable ownership group," Davis says.
As the deadlock drags on into its second week, the board is discussing its options behind closed doors. Company executives says they want employees back at work by Monday, and have promised "they can return without fear of penalty."
When Arthur S. got his brother fired, the workers were incensed. Arthur T. had done more than just be a good person to chat with and a respectful boss. During his tenure as CEO the company grew at a good clip, never taking on debt to finance an expansion, and generally paying good dividends to family shareholders in addition to good wages to employees.
Workers were worried that the ouster of Arthur T. would mean a sea change at the stores, including but not limited to worse working conditions and lower pay. So, even without a union on hand, workers went on strike. Employees from baggers to cashiers to stockers to warehouse to mid-level management all walked off the job and stood in picket lines. Even without union protection, something they'd never needed under Arthur T., they walked.
Sales at Market Basket stores took a nosedive. People who knew Soviet-era Russia store shelves would think they'd walked into a store out of Moscow in the 1980s--no produce, very few cans, a wasteland of empty aisles with barely any shoppers.
Employees got nasty letters about abandoning their jobs, but they stayed in front of the stores with signboards. The governors of both Massachusetts and New Hampshire asked workers to go back on the job, to no avail. Only the return of Arthur T. DeMoulas would bring them back.
Two hours ago, the Boston Globe reported that the side of the family that kicked Artie T. out would sell their complete remaining interest in the company to Artie T's side of the family. For the first time the chain will take on private equity debt, which might be a worrisome thing given the shambles the chain is in after over a month of walkouts and practically no customers, but suppliers and workers all seem ready to make it work again.
Arthur S. Demoulas and his side of the family isn't leaving empty-handed. They're getting over $1.5 billion for their share of the company. That's good eating money.
All I know is, as soon as the kids are in school for a day I'm heading to Market Basket and thanking the employees for their bravery. And putting some things in a grocery cart.
We need more CEOs like Arthur T. DeMoulas.
Market Basket Workers Win Return Of Supermarket's Former President
For six weeks, workers at Market Basket have protested to
demand the reinstatement of the supermarket chain's former president,
Arthur T. Demoulas. On Thursday, they got their way. Demoulas, who had
been ousted by the company's board in June, will be returning to his
position as part of a new deal.
Copyright © 2014 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.
MELISSA BLOCK, HOST: Supermarket workers wanted their ousted CEO to be put back in charge and they got their way. Now Market Basket trucks are rolling once again in New England. A six-week-old walkout had brought the supermarket chain to its knees. It's an astonishing victory by non-union labor, but at what cost? From member station WBUR in Boston, Curt Nickisch reports.
CURT NICKISCH, BYLINE: For the first time since he was fired as CEO in June, Arthur T. Demoulas parked at company headquarters in Duxbury, Massachusetts and begin his work day. Hundreds of workers greeted him, back on the job too, just hours after the deal was signed for Demoulas to buy-out his rival cousin in the family-owned business. He climbed onto the back of a pickup truck and told workers he loved them.
ARTHUR DEMOULAS: You, and only you, have got the professors and the CEOs at the workplace here at Market Basket so much more than just a job.
(CHEERING)
NICKISCH: The company's 25,000 employees could hardly believe it. They'd been afraid they'd lose their bonuses and positive work environment under the replacement executives so they brought the $4 billion firm to a standstill and made history by winning back their CEO. Bill Nascimento is a bakery manager at one of the company's 71 full-service supermarkets.
BILL NASCIMENTO: There's no words for it. I'm just happy, you know? This is what we were dreaming every single day.
NICKISCH: At a Market Basket warehouse, the forklifts are rolling again,
BRIAN KELLEHER: These guys are loading the trucks going to the stores, these are all loaded up ready to go, full trailers, ready to get this out of here.
NICKISCH: Warehouse manager Brian Kelleher knows that the sooner stores have food on their shelves, the sooner Market Basket can make money again.
KELLEHER: You got dog food, you got tuna fish, you got pickles - I mean, you got everything that these people need right now to get everybody on track to get their groceries in their cupboards and try to get those customers back on board with us, which I'm sure they will be.
NICKISCH: But that's an open question. The walkout forced customers to do their grocery shopping elsewhere and they may not all come back. It could also take weeks to restore relationships with food suppliers. Frank Hoy researches family businesses at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He says after losing millions of dollars, Market Basket is now in a very different financial position.
FRANK HOY: You know, whatever happens, you know, there's going to be debt to be serviced that this company hasn't had to deal with before. And that almost certainly means belt-tightening.
NICKISCH: That's because as part of the deal, returning CEO Arthur T. Demoulas is replacing his rival family members with new investors. He's reportedly getting money from a private equity firm and a commercial bank. The company culture may be stronger than ever in this astounding victory, but the worker walkout has resulted in a new test for Market Basket. For NPR News, I'm Curt Nickisch in Boston.
Rank-and-file Market Basket employees show support for ousted CEO Arthur T. Demoulas.
Curt Nickisch/WBUR
That's what's happening at the New England grocery store chain Market Basket, which has 25,000 employees. Business at Market Basket stores has slowed to a trickle as workers disrupt operations, stage protests and ask shoppers to stay away.
They say CEO Arthur T. Demoulas treats them well, and they want him reinstated.
Outside the Market Basket store in Somerville, Mass., a dozen workers wave protest signs as cars honk in support. Gabriel Pinto, a bagger, says he wants the new top executives gone.
"We're here to get support from all the customers and try and make sure no one comes in. We want Artie T. back," Pinto says.
He's referring to Arthur T., not his cousin and boardroom rival Arthur S. Demoulas. Their battle for control of the company has now spilled over into the 71 supermarkets.
Inside the Somerville store, only three checkout aisles are open. None of them has a line. The entire produce section is barren.
At the deli counter at the back of the store, Adelaide Leonardo is stocking the display case with cheese that may just end up spoiling. Fliers are taped to the glass. One says: "Boycott Market Basket." Another says: "Bring back A-T-D, our one true leader."
Leonardo agrees. "We know everybody. We know the customers," she says. "We are family here."
Yet family is the reason Market Basket is in a muddle. Cousins Arthur T. and Arthur S. are both grandsons of a Greek immigrant, also named Arthur Demoulas, who opened a small grocery in working-class Lowell, Mass., nearly a century ago. Two of his sons grew it into a regional supermarket chain. Their sons have been feuding for decades. An epic legal battle between the two in the 1990s featured a courtroom fistfight. Last month, Arthur S. gained control of the board and ousted Arthur T. That's when workers surprised themselves with their power to grind business to a standstill.
The aisles and food cases are largely empty inside a Market
Basket in Somerville, Mass. Workers have disrupted operations by leaving
produce to spoil in the back of the store and parking semitrucks to
block loading bays.
Curt Nickisch/WBUR
"Like I say, I work in different companies before, and I never have owners come in to me and say, 'How you doing today?' or 'How's your family?' It's great," Rivera says.
Those loyal workers have brought the company to its knees. Market Basket is losing an estimated $10 million per day.
"Hopefully, there's enough love in this family, not for one another anymore but for the legacy of their fathers, that this family will do the right thing and re-create a stable ownership group," Davis says.
As the deadlock drags on into its second week, the board is discussing its options behind closed doors. Company executives says they want employees back at work by Monday, and have promised "they can return without fear of penalty."
Worker protests have brought business to a standstill, forcing
managers to tell thousands of part-time employees to stay home. Workers
demand the return of their ousted CEO.
Copyright © 2014 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.
DAVID GREENE, HOST: In New England, a pretty dramatic uprising of workers at a super market chain is now in its fourth week. The company is called Market Basket and its 25,000 employees have ground business to a halt, costing millions of dollars a day. What they want is their CEO back.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
CROWD: Artie T. Artie T. Artie T. Artie T. Artie T. Artie T.
GREENE: Artie T. or Arthur T. Demoulas is the former CEO. His cousin and boardroom rival Arthur S. Demoulas fired him. From member station WBUR in Boston, Curt Nickisch reports on a family feud that is spiraling out of control.
CURT NICKISCH, BYLINE: Some call it the Occupy movement of labor struggles. Some say it's a new worker revolt for the 21st century. The fact is, after their CEO was fired, hundreds of Market Basket warehouse workers and truckers walked off the job.
MICHAEL PEREZ: This is symbolizing something in America.
NICKISCH: Warehouse employee Michael Perez press says it's simple. Workers like him want Arthur T. Demoulas back because he paid them well. They fear that Arthur S. Demoulas will take their bonuses and give them to shareholders instead.
PEREZ: These greedy one-percenters cannot just come in here and say, listen, we're going to take from you and we're going to take from you. And we're going to keep giving it to our rich cousins and our rich family. No, 600 people just crippled a million-dollar company.
NICKISCH: The Market Basket takedown is unprecedented because these workers are not unionized. They're not even technically on strike. But they've paralyzed the company by stopping food deliveries to its 71 full-service supermarkets around the region. The checkout lanes are open at a store in suburban Boston but most of the shelves are bare. Store director Michael Dunleavy told his 300 part-time workers he doesn't have any work for them.
MICHAEL DUNLEAVY: Terrible, terrible - I had employees crying in front of me.
NICKISCH: Dunleavy supports the disruption of the business, but he says he can't give shift to workers who have nothing to do. And there are more than 12,000 part-time employees across the company.
DUNLEAVY: Temporarily, there may not be any hours available for them to work. No one is being terminated or laid off.
SILVIA BATISTA: I'm very, very hurt today.
NICKISCH: Cashier Silvia Batista says she doesn't blame her boss. She blames the new company executives.
BATISTA: I don't agree with - those people doing. I hope they know how hurt I am.
NICKISCH: Batista says she'll have to collect employment until business gets back to normal. The ousted CEO Arthur T. Demoulas has offered to buy the other half of the company, controlled by his rival, Arthur S. But the board accuses Arthur T. of encouraging the worker uprising and holding the company hostage. He says the board is playing games. The enduring standoff is not only hurting profits and part-timers. It's also hurting many low-income customers who depend on the discount grocer. Customers have been taping their receipts from competitor supermarkets to the windows of Market Basket stores.
ISABELLE JACKSON: I can't take it. I'm very upset.
NICKISCH: Isabelle Jackson is raising her four grandchildren in public housing and says she can't afford other grocery stores. She calls Market Basket workers selfish.
JACKSON: You know, you don't shutdown a business like this and leave the people to not eat. Did anybody think about us?
NICKISCH: The company has hired some replacement truckers and workers to try to resume deliveries to the stores. But current employees are not exactly welcoming them.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: You dirt bag, you dirt bag, you dirt bag.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: You scum.
NICKISCH: As the costs mount for both sides, things only seem to be getting uglier. For NPR News, I'm Curt Nickisch in Boston.
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