Friday Morning One Liners...

Pathmark is trying to return to it's 'Low Cost' roots.

Brooklyn Paper dreams of having Wal-Mart in the neighborhood.

A new study shows that unionized workers in the lowest wage brackets in New York state earn 16% more than non-union workers with similar education.

California's attorney general has filed suit against four manufacturers, including Whole Foods Market Inc., accusing them of failing to label soap products that contain a potentially cancer-causing chemical.

The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 said today that it is withdrawing two of four proposed ballot initiatives, part of an effort to get business interests to pull their right-to-work measure. "We want to show that we're open to negotiation with the business community," said Manny Gonzales, a spokesman for UFCW Local 7, which represents food and health care workers and barbers in the Rocky Mountain region.

Montauk and Shinnecock fishermen will meet for the second time with representatives of the United Food and Commercial Workers union this afternoon at the Top of the Wharf restaurant in Hampton Bays.

Unionized workers at Tops Markets have overwhelmingly approved a three-year contract. United Food and Commercial Workers Local One said its members voted 97 percent in favor of the deal. Utica-based Local One represents about 9,000 workers at Tops stores in New York state and Pennsylvania.

Penn Traffic has reached a tentative contract agreement with United Food and Commercial Workers Local One, the union representing roughly two-thirds of its workforce, the retailer here said.

John Mackey, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Whole Foods Market here, said he has some regrets about last year’s Wild Oats acquisition, a merger of the two largest so-called “super-natural” retailers that triggered an antitrust investigation and an inquiry by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Specialty grocery chain The Fresh Market here will make its debut in New England next year as part of a new waterfront shopping district under construction in Hingham, Mass.

A major retail expansion is under way in Brooklyn, especially in Red Hook and downtown. The emergence of more retail stores comes in response to rising local incomes, growing demand for quality goods, and a national consolidation of retail into urban areas to avoid high energy costs, experts say....Ikea is leading this new retail push.

Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo said his office intends to take legal action against drug chains Rite Aid and CVS after a state investigation revealed their stores sold expired products including milk, eggs, medicines and baby formula.
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Two statewide drug store chains have been selling expired food, medicine and baby formula, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said Thursday.Cuomo said the items were found at 142 CVS and 112 Rite Aid pharmacies in New York. Many stores sold milk and eggs that had expired, and some sold medications that were more than a year past their expiration dates.

Officials Find Expired Items at Drugstores in New York

Stores still selling expired pills

BIG RX CHAINS RATTLED

Policy

Just over 3 million city residents, or 38% of the population, had difficulty affording food for themselves and their families last year, according to a report from the city's Food Bank.

Daily News : Tough to pay for food, 35% say

NY Sun :More Families Report Trouble Affording Food

Political

Labor union officials and some liberal activists were seething Tuesday over Barack Obama's choice of centrist economist Jason Furman as the top economic advisor for the campaign. The critics say Furman, who was appointed to the post Monday, has overstated the potential benefits of globalization, Social Security private accounts and the low prices offered by Wal-Mart -- considered a corporate pariah by the labor movement.

The Queens County Board of Elections commissioner, Anthony Como, will represent the 30th district in Queens in the City Council after winning a special election to replace Council Member Dennis Gallagher, who resigned earlier this year after pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges of sexual abuse.

Union endorses Hiram Monserrate over Sabini in Queens Senate race

City Councilman Hiram Monserrate picked up another endorsement Wednesday in his bid to unseat state Sen. John Sabini. The New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council tossed its support behind Monserrate

Anthony Weiner wants more foreign models in America.

And it looks like Babe Ruth's house has finally been found.