Market Basket to Take Action Against Missing Employees

A spokesperson representing Market Basket has issued a statement to the media noting that it is making one last request to hundreds of key employees to return to work … or else.

The statement noted that since July 17, about 200 associates who work at the company’s headquarters in Tewksbury as well as the company’s distribution centers have failed to report to work, “despite several company communications requesting they do so.” But as the standoff nears the one-month mark, the company appears to be ready to take action against the employees.

“The company has not taken any action in response to their absence, but is left with no choice but to make this last request,” the statement noted. “The company will of course follow all applicable laws should these associates choose to abandon their positions.”

According to the statement, a “letter was sent only to those employees that have failed to report to work at headquarters and the distribution center.”

The statement noted that many salaried exempt employees who haven’t shown up for work have been paid anyway. All were paid in advance for July, even though they haven’t shown up for work for half of the month. Others, who have reported to work, reported to management, or have approved vacation time, have also been paid for August.

Non-exempt hourly employees have been paid for all the hours for which they have worked.

Meanwhile, the customer group that has been running print advertising and attempting to build a movement to support the return of ousted CEO Arthur T. Demoulas issued its own statement to replacement CEOs, Felicia Thornton and James Gooch, who were hired to lead the company on June 23.

In a statement, the customers that they have held their own “vote of confidence” board meeting and 95 percent of those in attendance said they had “no confidence” in Thornton and Gooch. The group challenged the pair’s “seemingly lack of capability to perform the duties to which you have been hired.”

The letter stated, “Little or no management oversight is being exerted in the warehouse, and delivery trucks are reporting to the wrong store locations with empty, near empty, or in some cases, incorrect product orders for that store location. This is a direct result of your decisions to prevent the warehouse and drivers from returning to work, and preferring to work with outside vendors who are drastically under-qualified to function within the Market Basket world.”

The customer group stated that it would “encourage the Market Basket customers to return – but not until you have vacated your chairs, and the previous CEO Arthur T. Demoulas is returned to office.”