TEWKSBURY, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- On the last day Market Basket employees could decide to return to work or lose their jobs, they were making it clear they will only work for one man - Arthur T. Demoulas, the ousted CEO of the supermarket chain.
Hundreds of workers demonstrated Monday, at the company's headquarters and outside of a job fair for current employees. And an even larger rally was planned for Tuesday.
"They said we could come back today, but that's not gonna happen," said Sue Pieslak, who worked as an executive secretary at the corporate headquarters in Tewksbury. She walked off the job two-and-a-half weeks ago and hasn't been paid since, but says she's ok with losing her job if Artie T doesn't come back.
"If he's not part of the company, it's not the same company, and I don't want to be there."
Sue's husband Mike Pieslak is an assistant store manager in Bellingham. He's been going to work throughout the strike, but says he's seen several ads for assistant store manager jobs just like his, which he said makes him "uncomfortable."
"But I think their backs are up against the wall. Trying everything they can right now," Mike Pieslak said of the company's executives.
Despite the fact that the company is held a job fair for current employees on Monday, Pieslak was confident his coworkers would not show up, and in fact it seemed that very few people did.
"We're loyal to each other, we have each other's backs," he said. "If one falls, we're all gonna fall."
Also on Monday, Jack Demoulas, another cousin who works for the company, wrote a letter to employees urging them to go back to work and let Arthur T. and Arthur S. work things out.
Meanwhile, Joe Schmidt, one of eight veteran middle managers fired last month says he and the seven others still have not received paychecks they're owed.
"The eight terminated employees did have wages withheld which is a violation of state law," he said.
Now the only thing left to do for so many of the company's 25,000 employees is to just wait it out - and see what happens next.
"It's very scary but I wouldn't want it any other way," Pieslak said.
Monday afternoon the Market Basket CEOs acknowledged that employees were scared - but for a different reason.
âWe have heard from many associates who are interested in applying for internal positions, but are concerned for their safety if they attend the scheduled job fair," said Felicia Thornton and James Gooch, the co-CEOs in a statement. "Any associate interested should send a copy of their resume to jobfair2014@demoulasmarketbasket.com."
The statement went on to continue that though they realize making that email public "will likely generate incoming email not appropriate for this purpose," the CEOs felt that interested workers "should be given an opportunity without fear of intimidation and harassment.â
Tuesday is the second day for internal candidates to apply for jobs at the chain. On Wednesday, the fair will be open to the public.
Coinciding with the second day of the job fair will be a massive protest of workers and customers in Tewksbury to demand Arthur T.'s return. On Sunday night, he offered to take the helm while his offer to buy the company is reviewed, but the Market Basket board did not accept.
Fired district supervisor Tom Gordon says shareholders should take Arthur T. up on his offer to buy.
âThis place is crumbling around you," he said. "Before thereâs nothing left to sell, theyâll let Arthur buy it and we can get back to work.â