Labor Day, 2014, And A CEO Who "Gets It"

You may have read about the fight for control of the Market Basket grocery store chain in New England this past summer, which featured cousins Arthur T. Demoulas ("Arthur T.", or "Good Arthur") and Arthur S. Demoulas ("Arthur S.", or "Bad Arthur") in a struggle for control of the chain.  Good Arthur was strongly supported by the non-unionized workers and many of the customers of the chain because of his pro-worker, pro-consumer approach to the business, whereas cousin Bad Arthur was, well, your typical CEO.  Bad Arthur then succeeded in ousting Good Arthur from the company.  But now, after months of wrangling and a worker-consumer boycott, Good Arthur is back in the driver's seat at Market Basket.  (E.J. Dionne, Jr., gives more of the details here.)

Thursday, Good Arthur spoke to employees at the company's headquarters in Massachusetts and gave a speech that countered every Maker vs. Taker, Job Creator vs. Moocher trope that plutocrat right-wingers have flogged for decades.  Here's the heart of that speech:

“In this organization, here at Market Basket, everyone is special. You have demonstrated that everyone here has a purpose. You have demonstrated that everyone has meaning. And no one person is better or more important than another. And no one person holds a position of privilege. Whether it’s a full-timer or a part-timer, whether it’s a sacker or a cashier, or a grocery clerk, or a truck driver, or a warehouse selector, a store manager, a supervisor, a customer, a vendor or a CEO, we are all equal. We are all equal and by working together, and only together, do we succeed.”

As Dionne puts it, Labor Day is supposed to be a celebration of "human beings over things"  (not profits over people, or tax avoidance over corporate civic responsibility).  That's the value that Good Arthur embraced and why he prevailed, with a little help from his fellow human beings.