Market Basket Employees Rally

At least 8 employees were fired over the weekend for their involvement in last week's rally; 3 former employees talk about their struggle

The longtime family feud over the control of Market Basket is reaching a boiling point as employees of the supermarket chain and their supporters rallied at company headquarters in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, Monday to show support for their former chief executive Arthur T. Demoulas.

The chain, which has 71 stores in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine, has started to see some of its stores running out of food after deliveries stopped Friday, and 17 lawmakers in Massachusetts have joined the call for a boycott of the company.

Meanwhile, at least eight employees were fired over the weekend for their involvement in Friday's rally at company headquarters.

Tom Trainor, a grocery supervisor who had been with the company for 41 years, was among those fired, along with Joe Schmidt, a supervisor of operations with 27 years at the company. Dave McLean, a former operations manager who had been with the supermarket chain for 38 years, resigned in June when former executive Arthur T. Demoulas was ousted by the board, calls the new management's actions "an injustice."

Trainor says Market Basket employees are rallying for their former CEO.

"The guy is a wonderful guy. He's a great human being," he said.

However, Schmidt says the rallies aren't just for "Artie T." - they're for the Market Basket family as a whole.

"We're business people, but we all work together. We're a tight-knit group and these are people that are well respected throughout the company," he said. "We all have a responsibility of supervisors not only to perform our job but also protect our people and protect our family, and that's really what we're doing."

Despite his resignation, McLean says he hasn't stopped worrying everyday about the employees left behind at Market Basket.

"The reality is, the path of the company is heading under the new board of directors and the changes and the things they have already done," points to signs of selling the company, McLean said.

Market Basket's new management team has not responded to requests for comment or to appear on Broadside.

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