TEWKSBURY, Mass. — A family feud over control over the Market Basket supermarket chain escalated Monday as thousands of employees and their supporters rallied at the company's headquarters for a second time and called for the reinstatement of their former chief executive.
Workers said the feud is starting to affect stores, as employees refuse to make deliveries and some shelves are left empty. Eight employees were fired over the weekend after they skipped work to attend a rally Friday.
The rallies outside the company's headquarters were organized to show support for fired CEO Arthur T. Demoulas.
Demoulas was fired last month by a board controlled by his cousin, Arthur S. Demoulas. Both are grandsons of the chain's founder, and their feud dates back decades. The chain has 71 stores in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine.
The company, known for its low prices, said in a statement that eight employees were fired over the weekend because "their actions continued to harm the company, negatively impacted customers, and inhibited associates' ability to perform their jobs."
"I knew I was putting my neck out there," Tom Trainor, a distribution supervisor with 41 years at the company, told The Boston Globe. "They don't even bother to tell you to your face."
Meanwhile, some Market Basket stores started running out of fresh produce as deliveries had stopped Friday. Customers who went shopping Sunday were greeted by empty shelves in some sections of the stores.
At Monday's rally, one of the fired workers, Steve Paulenka, a former facilities and operations supervisor, estimated the crowd at 5,000 people.
"You go back to your stores. Shut it down," Paulenka told a cheering crowd.
In an open letter to its customers published Saturday in The Boston Globe, Market Basket's co-Chief Executive Officers Felicia Thornton and Jim Gooch apologized to shoppers.
"We recognize that transitions aren't always easy and appreciate that this has been an emotional time for many associates," the letter said. "Unfortunately, in response to the recent management changes, some have lost sight of the top priority — taking care of you — and instead have engaged in actions that harm Market Basket's reputation and prevent us from meeting our obligations to you."
Some Massachusetts lawmakers have called for a boycott of the company, led by state Sen. Barry Finegold, D-Andover, whose district includes the company's headquarters in Tewksbury. As of Monday, 37 state lawmakers and mayors had agreed to encourage constituents to stop shopping at Market Basket until Arthur T. Demoulas is reinstated, said Finegold, who attended Monday's rally.
"I've never seen a rally where workers are not asking for more wages or benefits. All they are asking for is the reinstatement of the person that's been running this company," Finegold said. "It's about keeping the culture of this company they've built that's benefited so many all these years. So many people are paycheck to paycheck. If you can save 10 percent of your food bill, it's a big deal."
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