4 ms·

This has been flooding the news in the Boston/Mass area for a while. The fact that the employees (both ground level and managers) had this level of organization

This has been flooding the news in the Boston/Mass area for a while. The fact that the employees (both ground level and managers) had this level of organization and persistence without having a union speaks volumes about both the people that work there and how much Arthur T. is respected.

bane 12y ago
Can you provide more commentary on the history of all this and why he's so respected? I think that would be helpful. The news is pretty slim on that subject.
- druiid 12y ago
  From what I heard previously he was responsible for pretty decent working conditions and benefits (think the level of pay and benefits that Costco is known to provider their employees). The brother of the owner was seeking to reverse many of these kinds of things in order to look at the bottom-line for the stores.
  - vonmoltke 12y ago
    It goes beyond that, too. He has a track record of making decisions that benefit employees and shoppers while having little or no direct benefit to the company. In some cases he chose to absorb costs he could have easily passed on to one group or the other. He regularly attends weddings, funerals, ad other such events for his employees and their families.
- msabalau 12y ago
  In addition to what others have noted: he's seen as someone who develops people internally, with many of his management team having started out as baggers years ago the stores have been noted for years as having good prices (and, at least where I am, exceptionally fresh produce, because of the high turnover because of the good prices). *The employees made the case to the public that the new management team intended to load the company up with debt, to the benefit of shareholders and to the detriment of employees and customers. Given people's experience of how private equity firms have ruined many things this seemed plausible, especially given that non-unionized employees were willing to put their jobs on the line because of it.

bane 12y ago

Can you provide more commentary on the history of all this and why he's so respected? I think that would be helpful. The news is pretty slim on that subject.

druiid 12y ago
From what I heard previously he was responsible for pretty decent working conditions and benefits (think the level of pay and benefits that Costco is known to provider their employees). The brother of the owner was seeking to reverse many of these kinds of things in order to look at the bottom-line for the stores.
- vonmoltke 12y ago
  It goes beyond that, too. He has a track record of making decisions that benefit employees and shoppers while having little or no direct benefit to the company. In some cases he chose to absorb costs he could have easily passed on to one group or the other. He regularly attends weddings, funerals, ad other such events for his employees and their families.
msabalau 12y ago
In addition to what others have noted: he's seen as someone who develops people internally, with many of his management team having started out as baggers years ago the stores have been noted for years as having good prices (and, at least where I am, exceptionally fresh produce, because of the high turnover because of the good prices). *The employees made the case to the public that the new management team intended to load the company up with debt, to the benefit of shareholders and to the detriment of employees and customers. Given people's experience of how private equity firms have ruined many things this seemed plausible, especially given that non-unionized employees were willing to put their jobs on the line because of it.