TEWKSBURY, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- While many local lawmakers and congressman are weighing in on the Market Basket saga, other high profile ones are staying out of it.
Governor Deval Patrick said Tuesday that he is still staying out of the controversy and Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey have also stayed silent.
"It's a private matter. It's a private company about who the CEO is going to be and that's something that the board and their employees will sort out and I hope they sort it out soon," Patrick said.
A whole host of state lawmakers are publicly supporting the workers. So have some members of congress, including Niki Tsongas, John Tierney, and now Mike Capuano.
So why are some staying out of it?
Political Science Professor Peter Ubertaccio, director of the Martin Institute at Stonehill College, said it's complicated.
"I think had you had workers who had grievances against the company, who are being abused, underpaid, forced to work long hours in dangerous situations, I suspect that Senator Warren, Senator Markey, the governor would get involved, but you don't have any of those allegations here. What you really have is an internal private dispute between a board and a former administrator and a history of family members not getting along."
When asked if he thinks that you would see a different reaction from the politicians if the workers were unionized, he said "probably."
He went on to say, "I think that also plays a factor here. These are not unionized workers. They are not involved. They would love to be involved, but the workers have thus far not gone down that road."
"There are certain things government shouldn't do, interfering with family feuds is one of them," Political Strategist Pat Griffin said.
He said you'll see politicians get involved only if all the employees start getting fired.
"If they lose their jobs, then we're going to see people suggesting there was injustice, or something done here to harm the employees," he said.
Griffin added, "Make no mistake, the current owners of this company are in very serious trouble which is why I think ultimately what they'd do is arrive at a deal and the deal will probably be to sell the company and perhaps allow the employees some participation in the newly formed entity."
Ubertaccio believes the longer this goes on, the pressure could mount on elected officials to get involved in part because this is a big supermarket chain. With tens of thousands of employees, jobs, and ripple effects through local economies.
