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Why the Market Basket saga matters to all Americans
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-market-basket-living-wage-20140822-story.htmlArthur T. was no average boss. Under his direction, Market Basket full-time workers started at $12 per hour and could earn upward of $40,000 in salary if they stuck with the company for a number of years.
In addition, as Esquire reports, the company paid “its roughly 19,000 workers yearly bonuses that often equal up to several months worth of salary” and invested “the equivalent of 15 percent of every paycheck into a retirement plan.”
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It isn’t just workers who are happy. Market Basket customers are as loyal as they come — and have helped enforce a regional boycott of the company in solidarity with Arthur T. At the start of 2014, a time when food prices rose drastically throughout the country, Arthur T. cut prices on most goods at his stores by 4%, even though Market Basket was already known for offering some of the cheapest prices in town.
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The company is living proof that low worker pay is not a matter of economic necessity, it’s a choice rooted in greed. If a regional grocery store chain can pay workers fairly, offer discount prices, and still make billions, that means the retail monoliths of the world such as Wal-Mart should have no problem doing the same. Companies such as Wal-Mart choose not to pay their workers fairly, and claim false poverty when pressured to improve their workers’ lots.
The Market Basket saga is far more important than the fate of one ousted CEO. It’s about the future of American capitalism. So long as Market Basket exists in its current state, any argument against guaranteeing a living wage to American workers rings demonstrably false. The company was a beacon for how American business can and should be run. We should all be voicing our support to keep it that way.
In addition, as Esquire reports, the company paid “its roughly 19,000 workers yearly bonuses that often equal up to several months worth of salary” and invested “the equivalent of 15 percent of every paycheck into a retirement plan.”
<...>
It isn’t just workers who are happy. Market Basket customers are as loyal as they come — and have helped enforce a regional boycott of the company in solidarity with Arthur T. At the start of 2014, a time when food prices rose drastically throughout the country, Arthur T. cut prices on most goods at his stores by 4%, even though Market Basket was already known for offering some of the cheapest prices in town.
<...>
The company is living proof that low worker pay is not a matter of economic necessity, it’s a choice rooted in greed. If a regional grocery store chain can pay workers fairly, offer discount prices, and still make billions, that means the retail monoliths of the world such as Wal-Mart should have no problem doing the same. Companies such as Wal-Mart choose not to pay their workers fairly, and claim false poverty when pressured to improve their workers’ lots.
The Market Basket saga is far more important than the fate of one ousted CEO. It’s about the future of American capitalism. So long as Market Basket exists in its current state, any argument against guaranteeing a living wage to American workers rings demonstrably false. The company was a beacon for how American business can and should be run. We should all be voicing our support to keep it that way.
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