If corporations are people, then wouldn’t the selling of a corporation be illegal, just as selling a person is illegal? Apparently not. In the spectacle that is the Market Basket story, many theories have been floated. Since one of the new CEOs has familiarity with a west coast grocery chain, which was sold, some thought that they were brought in to assist in preparing the Market Basket chain for selling. The employees and customers are making this difficult. Sales in some stores have declined by as much as 90 percent. This in turn is making the valuation of the company difficult.
It is interesting that the term "corporate disobedience" has been discussed recently in relation to this story. Does this mean that we are expected to be obedient to the whims of corporate America? It seems like many folks think otherwise. Related links can be found, here, there and everywhere.
So to say that corporations are people is to say that the patient is on life support. The lost sales can’t continue indefinitely without adverse corporate health effects. Then outside business school commenters state that employees should cooperate for three months to allow for a proper business evaluation, likely to support sale to another owner. They seem oblivious to the role of the customers who are supporting the employees’ position. We had already seen the results of venture capitalists taking over other stores. The telling signs are the self checkouts and higher prices. We already have enough companies that get our labor for free while ripping us off, e.g., most gas stations. It is also odd that the CEOs have asked the employees to return to work while at the same time, locking some out. Now they are saying that they will hire replacements to serve the nearly zero customers, as if that would increase sales in any way. Keeping the patient alive would be like preparing for selling off the heart, lungs, liver and kidneys of the living patient while knowing that the patient is capable of getting off the table and walking away. That seems pretty illegal as well. The patient can hear you talking.
What the customers and employees seem to be saying is that if the CEOs and Board of Directors choose to cause the demise of Market Basket Inc, then we’re not going to be part of it. Feel free to come out of your bubbles and visit a store or two. Speak to a few customers that are taking their personal, unpaid, non-greedy time to picket in support of the employees. This is likely a concept that eludes you. Maybe you will learn something from speaking with peasants. What you are doing is wrong and it is causing pain and suffering to real human beings. There are seniors on fixed incomes and families struggling to make ends meet that rely on affordable healthy food.
Your actions are harming thousands of people and other business owners as well. Please do the right thing and make it stop. It only takes a simple vote to make it so. If you don’t take Arthur Ts offer, you are just asking the customers and employees to pull the plug on your patient. Without employees and customers, you’ll only have a skeleton left to sell. Are your hatred and hubris the only things left driving your decision making process? That would be the ultimate Greek tragedy.