Supermarket battle in Boston

[Matt1970]

Amazing how the business doesn't work without the employees. So why shouldn't the employees share in the success? If it is executives that make a company profitable, thus justifying the excessive compensation, why isn't the company making money hand over fist with one of their biggest costs (employees) out of the way?

It's all in what you bring to the company. If all you can do is put stuff on a shelf or sweep the floor, do you really think your pay should be anywhere close to the people who decide what to sell, how to market it, where to sell it and for what price?

 

[Fanatical Meat]

It's all in what you bring to the company. If all you can do is put stuff on a shelf or sweep the floor, do you really think your pay should be anywhere close to the people who decide what to sell, how to market it, where to sell it and for what price?

You're talking about 100k+ jobs. Market basket floor employee's are not making that kind of money nor are they asking for it. Their pay and benefits are above the market average and they would like them to stay that way.

 

[Matt1970]

You're talking about 100k+ jobs. Market basket floor employee's are not making that kind of money nor are they asking for it. Their pay and benefits are above the market average and they would like them to stay that way.

I had a friend that worked for a big internet/phone provider in the area. They were making $22.50/hr to answer the phone in the early 2000's. They went on strike for better pay. I told her she was a fool for supporting that. She now makes $12.50/he as a receptionist. Before that she made $10/hr at a liquor store. Her job and whole division with the big internet/phone provider are gone. You need to know your place in life.

They may not be asking for $100K but when you are alreay making twice the industry standard for you line of work and you go on strike, don't be surprised when your job is long gone.

 

[DrDoug]

From a guy who lives in MA but hasn't followed the story much.
Arthur (Artie) was loved arguably paid people too much
Family tossed him out, want to make more money & prep for selling business
New executives make normal changes like discussing selling real estate to a management company to cut costs
Workers see writing on the wall start wearing pins & signs supporting Artie
Market basket threatens to fire them
State government say you better think twice about that
More workers hold signs up when they are not working
Somehow the trucks stop getting unloaded and stop arriving to stores
Market basket keeps talking about job openings but nothing concrete seems to happen
Many customers stop shopping
Artie receives an offer to buyout other share holders (I believe its not publically traded company)
Artie refuses offer reason unknown but I believe the price was too high

My general observations are workers were a bit sensitive but have generally kept it appropriate. New management has not attempted to explain their position to the press or workers thus they appear distant/out of touch.

Artie sounds like he built up a very successful company with well compensated, happy employees and stores packed with customers that they gladly served. Sales in the billions show that he had a good thing going and in the end it looks like greed will destroy it. Others in the company only saw the money being 'wasted' on the employees, money that instead could be in their own bank accounts like most other retail companies now do. In the end, Artie built a successful model where they didn't have to screw over the employees to achieve their success and that has led to his downfall.

Little did they know that in taking down Artie, they were taking down themselves. Kudos to the workers and customers who have stood up to this.

 

[theeedude]

I had a friend that worked for a big internet/phone provider in the area. They were making $22.50/hr to answer the phone in the early 2000's. They went on strike for better pay. I told her she was a fool for supporting that. She now makes $12.50/he as a receptionist. Before that she made $10/hr at a liquor store. Her job and whole division with the big internet/phone provider are gone. You need to know your place in life.

They may not be asking for $100K but when you are alreay making twice the industry standard for you line of work and you go on strike, don't be surprised when your job is long gone.

I had a friend corporation (they are "people" after all) in the Boston area. They were making $217 Million selling groceries to people in 2013. Then they went on to screw their employees for better profits. I told them they were a fool for supporting that. Now they are losing $10M per day with food rotting on the shelves. Their profits and customers with big grocery chain are gone. You need to know your place in life.

They may not be asking for minimum wage work, but when you are already making above industry standard profit margins in your line of business and you piss off your employees and your own customers, don't be surprised when your business is long gone.

 

[theeedude]

Which I believe was the exact reasoning used to argue that corporations exist only to maximize shareholder value, not to have ethics.

So how is it working out for Market Basket? Shareholder value maximized?

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I had a friend that worked for a big internet/phone provider in the area. They were making $22.50/hr to answer the phone in the early 2000's. They went on strike for better pay. I told her she was a fool for supporting that. She now makes $12.50/he as a receptionist. Before that she made $10/hr at a liquor store. Her job and whole division with the big internet/phone provider are gone. You need to know your place in life.

They may not be asking for $100K but when you are alreay making twice the industry standard for you line of work and you go on strike, don't be surprised when your job is long gone.

These aren't insane salaries. Keep in mind its Massachusetts nobody earns less than about 19k per year.

http://www.salarylist.com/company/Market-Basket-Salary.htm

Edit this is not the glass door link, only one salary reported per position.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Fair enough. Businesses should treat their workers with respect. However, this particular case is going to end with management firing all their protesting workers, and hiring new ones. Their lame excuse of "bring back our old CEO because he's a cool dude" protests will accomplish nothing, only lost time/wages for the workers and inconvenience for their customers.

Actually, negotiations are currently in progress to sell the majority of the company to Artie T. Any workers fired beforehand will be brought back.

 

[Generator]

I relocated to the mass area last year. I thought nothing of the boycott; went right past the off-the-clock workers trying to intimidate me outside. Once in, I noticed there was no fresh food, so I walked straight out.

This is a prime example of poor execution. There should have been a plan from day one to handle this better. Have temp or backup workers manning the deliveries. Hire from walmart. Temporarily raise wages while having the workers train their eventual replacements. None of that has happened. The CEOs they hired are chumps who don't know how to get things done.

Typical slash and burn free marketeer. Open your mouth boy so I can take a fresh shit into it. Everybody knows that paying people a decent wage works. The simple greed of driving people into poverty has no endgame. Dignity for the worker doesn't cost much at all.

 

[CitizenKain]

You need to know your place in life.

That place is apparently taking it up the ass from a corporation, something you seem to relish in.

 

[positivedoppler]

I had a friend corporation (they are "people" after all) in the Boston area. They were making $217 Million selling groceries to people in 2013. Then they went on to screw their employees for better profits. I told them they were a fool for supporting that. Now they are losing $10M per day with food rotting on the shelves. Their profits and customers with big grocery chain are gone. You need to know your place in life.

They may not be asking for minimum wage work, but when you are already making above industry standard profit margins in your line of business and you piss off your employees and your own customers, don't be surprised when your business is long gone.

Lol, i c wut u did there

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally Posted by Matt1970
You need to know your place in life.

That place is apparently taking it up the ass from a corporation, something you seem to relish in.

True for so many on here.

 

[boomerang]

When Should the Family Business Throw Out the Family?

"Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations." A typical paradigm for a family business; mom and pop start the business, their children successfully grow the business, and the greedy acrimonious grandchildren squabble amongst themselves and fritter away the business. The Demoulas family, of the Market Basket supermarket chain in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine, has added some new wrinkles.

The article is a summation of sorts of what the rational posters have put in this thread.

 

[ch33zw1z]

You need to know your place in life.

look up CNN's income calculator, or any of them. $50k in Boston MA is about $37k in Rochester NY. It's very expensive to live there, just like NYC.

$12/hour in Boston doesn't mean you're well off. The extra benefits keep the employees happy and willing to do the job well. And it showed in the businesses success.

Seems to me like the management didn't know their place.

 

[ch33zw1z]

I had a friend corporation (they are "people" after all) in the Boston area. They were making $217 Million selling groceries to people in 2013. Then they went on to screw their employees for better profits. I told them they were a fool for supporting that. Now they are losing $10M per day with food rotting on the shelves. Their profits and customers with big grocery chain are gone. You need to know your place in life.

They may not be asking for minimum wage work, but when you are already making above industry standard profit margins in your line of business and you piss off your employees and your own customers, don't be surprised when your business is long gone.

/thread.

 

[Jimzz]

When Should the Family Business Throw Out the Family?



The article is a summation of sorts of what the rational posters have put in this thread.

WOW... so they had happy employees, happy customer's, and made a good profit. Yea we need more profits so lets piss off the happy customers, happy employees, and hire a couple ex-ceo's that ran their last companies into the ground. What could go wrong.

 

[Thebobo]

. You need to know your place in life.

yea fuck those upstart peasants thinking they can get a decent life, release the dogs! Damn dude thats some wacko thinking imo.

 

[DrPizza]

Whoa. I just read this thread for the first time - it's the business model that I've posted here a few times - pay your workers a little better than the average rate in your area, give them some decent benefits, and you retain higher quality, happy workers. Employee retention reduces costs associated with hiring. Employee retention results in employees who can greatly outperform "minimum wage new hires" that would otherwise be the norm, and happy employees help a great deal with customer retention.

 

[slatr]

yea fuck those upstart peasants thinking they can get a decent life, release the dogs! Damn dude thats some wacko thinking imo.

Let them eat cake and all that business.

 

[theeedude]

BTW, even if it is the case that the corporation's task is to maximize value to the shareholders, Market Basket isn't doing it. Right now, the value of the company is not just lower, it's concentrated in one man, the previous CEO. If he comes back, the company will make it, if not, the customers will bail on them and they will go bust. So he has all the leverage to get the company on the cheap. The board has destroyed both the value of the company and the liquidity of its assets.
The lesson from this episode is that if you want to maximize value, the calculus has changed, screwing your employees is no longer a safe way to do it. There is a PR risk that other CEOs will have to contend with from now on. Times are changing.

 

[Matt1970]

That place is apparently taking it up the ass from a corporation, something you seem to relish in.

I read two articles on the store. I didn't see anywhere in either of them where they are planning on cutting wages.

 

[Strk]

I read two articles on the store. I didn't see anywhere in either of them where they are planning on cutting wages.

Admittedly, there is nothing in writing, but it is hard not to view it otherwise. Two CEOs that have horrible track records are brought in. The Arthur S side has only complained about too much money going to employees and not enough to them. After one of the bonus payments, the board, against Arthur T's wishes, takes a $300 million payout to the shareholders, which is a small group of family members. Arthur S also continues to complain about those bonuses that go to the employees.

 

[code65536]

It's all in what you bring to the company.

Like good service that draws customers back? I hate shopping at my local Wal-Mart because the place isn't very clean, the shelves are never properly stocked, and the people there just don't care.

Customer service and a welcoming atmosphere--*gasp*--have economic value.

Economics, ultimately, is about human behavior. Managers are myopic if they forget that and only care about numbers.

 

[Strk]

So we now have the MA and NH governors mediating the sale

And it turns out the two new CEOs are handling more things than just the strike poorly

 

[preCRT]

Looks like they finally struck a deal, Artie T pays $1.5 BILLION to Arthur S.

http://www.boston.com/business/news...d2PulI/story.html?p1=ClickedOnBreakingNewsBox