Two Market Basket executives who were fired Tuesday say the move was part of an effort to silence employees who oppose changes the company's board of directors and some shareholders want to make to the company.

Market Basket fired the executives, Joe Schmidt and Tom Gordon, claiming they worked to spark a widespread work disruption to help protect chief executive Arthur T. Demoulas.

The New England grocery chain told a local news outlet it terminated the directors for making untrue statements about the company.

One of Market Basket’s founding family members, Arthur T. Demoulas, is blasting away at the private equity group that has a major ownership stake and he says is ruining the company. The chain has dozens of locations across New England, including two in Rhode Island.