Morning Brief

LYNDHURST, N.J. — H Mart, a South Korean-owned chain of high-end Asian supermarkets here, is pursuing an aggressive expansion plan this year, with eight stores scheduled to open across the United States. Including at least one in New York.
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BURNABY, British Columbia — United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1518 said its members have voted to walk out if union leaders call a strike against Save-On-Food stores.
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Thousands of Save-On-Foods workers in Vancouver took part in a strike vote last week - and the results are in. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union say the vote was 94% in favor of walking off the job.

DENVER - Business and labor leaders spent last week sparring over proposed changes to the state constitution, and despite the intervention of Gov. Bill Ritter, the battle may get nastier. Wednesday, a group called A Better Colorado filed 133,000 petitions with the secretary of state. Its goal is to add an amendment to the state constitution that would prohibit collective bargaining agreements, which require that workers be union members or pay union dues. They call their proposal the Colorado Right to Work Amendment.

NYC- The cost of a controversial tracking system for city employees has quietly ballooned to $410 million - and is still climbing."It's insanely expensive," said labor lawyer Rachel Minter, who is heading up one union's fight against the most sci-fi aspect of the system: hand scanners that can identify employees by the shape of their palms. The scanners are one part of CityTime, a tracking and payroll system that after 10 years and more than $400 million now covers just 15,000 employees at 26 agencies. City officials argue that old-fashioned paper time sheets are inefficient, and CityTime will save $60 million a year once it's fully operational

The economy shed 80,000 jobs in March, the third consecutive month of rising unemployment, presenting a stark sign that the country may already be in a recession.

Development

Fearing the loss of small, local businesses on Harlem's 125th Street corridor, critics of the city's controversial rezoning plan urged a powerful City Council subcommittee to set aside space for independent retailers or even limit new chain stores.

Brooklyn's jail is opening a 'retail' floor.

NY Post article on the newly proposed Brooklyn BJ's.

And property owners and other opponents of the city's $3 billion Willets Point redevelopment are suing the city.