Ousted Market Basket CEO Arthur T. Demoulas strongly rebuffed an offer from three board directors yesterday to return to work — but not at the helm — brushing it off as a ploy to prop up the teetering supermarket chain while the company considers a sale to another bidder.
A spokeswoman for Demoulas in a statement last night dismissed as "disingenuous" the directors' late afternoon bid to get the fired CEO and his team to help co-CEOs Felicia Thornton and James Gooch end the job walkouts and protests that have left shelves bare in the 71-store chain and sent customers elsewhere.
"This is an attempt to have (Arthur T.) stabilize the company, while they consider selling it to another bidder," spokeswoman Justine Griffin said. "This is far too serious a situation for these games and attempts at window dressing. ... Market Basket's associates, customers, vendors and communities deserve better than that."
The statement was the last in a series of statements fired off yesterday, first by the governor, urging the two sides to come to a swift resolution, then by the three directors, who said they were offering "a path forward that would allow a return to normal" while Arthur T. pursues buying out his rival cousin, Arthur S. Demoulas, who controls 50.5 percent of the chain.
"There is no reason to not meet in the middle," the directors said in a statement. "Mr. Demoulas gets his management team back in place, associates can get back to doing their job, customers can get back to shopping and the company gets the breathing room needed to create an orderly and productive way forward."
But Tom Trainor, a fired Market Basket supervisor who worked for the company for 41 years, said it was an empty offer.
"We want Arthur T. Demoulas back as CEO — nothing less," said Trainor. "Unless he's CEO, I have no plans on going back."
In their statement, the directors also offered to meet with Patrick and New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan after the Massachusetts Democrat sent a letter to the board yesterday, saying the dispute "has gotten out of hand" and offering his help to resolve it.
"I do not express a view about who the CEO of Market Basket should be," Patrick said. "However, I also believe that your failure to resolve this matter is not only hurting the company's brand and business, but also many innocent and relatively powerless workers."
Market Basket workers have been protesting Arthur T.'s abrupt ouster by the board for three weeks, and calling for his reinstatement.
Gary N. Chaison, professor of labor relations at Clark University in Worcester, said the governor would be the "perfect" mediator because he has the "credibility of someone who is friendly to labor and to companies."
"He can walk into this dispute and tell both parties he's the only thing standing between them and disaster," Chaison said. "If something isn't done in the next few days, jobs will be lost, and the company will go under."
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