Nearly 3,000 people rallied outside the Market Basket headquarters in Tewksbury Friday in support of recently ousted CEO Arthur T. Demoulas.

Earlier in the week a letter of demands was sent to new co-CEOs Felicia Thornton and James Gooch and Board of Directors from employees demanding Demoulas be reinstated as CEO or else they would stage a company wide walk-out. Thornton and Gooch sent out a letter in response to the demands stating any employee that walks out will be terminated.

On Friday, hundreds of employees took vacation or sick days to attend the rally. The entire Main Office, company warehouse, and truck drivers took the day off, resulting in no deliveries to stores on Friday. Some smaller stores in New Hampshire were forced to send employees home because there was no stock for them to put onto the shelves.

With no Friday deliveries, shelves in most stores will go bare before the end of the weekend. Employees have also been encouraged to turn away any deliveries that arrive until their demands are met.

The Board of Directors are the only ones with the power to meet the employees' demands. They will hold a phone conference with store managers on Monday and a meeting in Tewksbury on July 25.

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