Business professor: Hassan deserves credit for sticking her neck out in Market Basket negotiations
Gov. Maggie Hassan put her political capital on the line to help broker a deal between warring Market Basket factions, says UMass Lowell business professor Scott Latham.
Latham told the Lowell Sun that she and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick “deserve credit for sticking their necks out – to borrow a term used by Market Basket workers and customers in support of Arthur T. Demoulas.”
Other politicians shied away from the negotiations, Latham said, knowing the risk involved if negotiations fell through or produced results that angered the public.
Market Basket chairman Keith Cowan agreed. He said the governors’ involvement “made a significant difference” in the negotiations.
“Governor Patrick and Governor Hassan worked tirelessly and creatively to help shareholders find solutions that brought them together to reach agreement,“ Cowan said in a statement. "The beneficiaries of their efforts are the 25,000 associates of Market Basket, its two million customers and all of the communities it serves.”