Thousands of Market Basket employees and customers rally on August 5 in Tewksbury.
Credit: Nicolaus Czarnecki, Metro
Protesting Market Basket workers have flooded the attorney general’s office with calls as the company has reportedly moved to cut all hours to part-time workers effective Sunday.
More than 100 calls have been placed to the attorney general’s office in the last 24 hours, the agency said in a statement Thursday morning. The AG’s office attributed the significant uptick to “evolving circumstances” and said it expected more calls in the coming days.
A hotline number (617-963-2400) was set up for Market Basket employees and will be staff by the AG’s Fair Labor Division.
“Market Basket is a major employer in Massachusetts, and we remain hopeful that the parties will come together to reach a positive resolution and restore the vibrancy of the business,” Attorney General Martha Coakley said in a statement. “With the rapidly evolving circumstances, we have established this hotline to answer questions directly from workers and make sure their rights are being protected.”
Thousands of part-time Market Basket workers were expected to be laid off effective Sunday, according to the Lowell Sun, which cited an e-mail sent to store managers on Thursday.
Thousands of employees have been protesting for weeks to get ousted CEO Arthur T. Demoulas reinstated. The grocery chain operates 71 stores in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. The workers have been joined by supportive customers and stopped deliveries have led to some empty shelves at multiple stores.
Follow Michael Naughton on Twitter @metrobosmike.
