Wednesday One Liners...

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Andy Stern, President of the SEIU has announced he will step down.

NY Times: Andy Stern, the nation’s most politically influential union president, will announce plans this week to resign, several union officials said, in a move that surprised and shook organized labor and Democratic political circles.

The UFCW proudly announces its support for the Healthy Food Financing Initiative legislation introduced Monday by New York legislators Senator Kirstin Gillibrand (D-NY) and Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez (D-NY). [Press Release]

Senator Gillibrand Press Release: To help three million New Yorkers living in so-called “food desert” neighborhoods that have little or no access to fresh, nutritious foods, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Representative Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) were joined today by New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Councilwoman Margaret Chin (D-Manhattan), UFCW Local 1500 President Bruce Both, RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum, and PolicyLink Founder & CEO Angela Glover Blackwell to launch the Healthy Food Financing Initiative

Shaw's
Gov. Deval Patrick is calling on Shaw’s management and employees to cut a deal to end a 6-week-old strike by 300 workers at the chain’s Methuen distribution facility.
“I strongly urge both parties to continue to bargain and resolve their differences at the bargaining table quickly and fairly,” Patrick wrote in a letter to both sides. “Doing so will allow Shaw’s to focus on running its supermarkets while allowing the striking employees to return to good-paying jobs at Shaw’s.” Read more here.

Connecticut: A Shaw's closes, will transform into a Stop & Shop.

Hartford Business: A former Shaw's Supermarket in Southington Plaza Shopping Center will reopen as a Shop Rite once renovations are complete.  Wakefern Food Corp. is leasing the 60,000 square feet at 750 Queen St. that Shaw's closed and vacated about two years ago.

TheDay.com: Stop & Shop on Friday will open five new stores that it acquired from Shaw's.
The stores are in Darien, East Hampton, New Fairfield, Newington and Vernon. The stores underwent minor renovations earlier this month.

In recent weeks, Starbucks has closed 19 licensed stores at Stop & Shop and Giant locations in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, according to a report from Dow Jones Newswires.

BJ's Wholesale Club has run into a series of problems in Quincy, Mass. On Tuesday, the company and town met to discuss a resolution.

NY Times: 32BJ Contract: With a strike deadline looming, contract negotiations between the owners of apartment buildings and the union that represents doormen and other workers have been complicated by very different views on whether the city’s economy has turned a corner.

How to eat well on a Food Stamp Diet:
With job growth and the economy still only sputtering along, a record number of Americans have turned to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the formal name for federal food stamp program.
At the end of last year, roughly 1 in 8 Americans received food stamps, the highest rate ever.
Politics 
The UFCW is launching a new legislative and political website, voteufcw.org. The site was designed with UFCW members and locals in mind--we’ve stocked it with crucial information and helpful tools to make it easier to take action and stay informed on politics and the issues that matter to working Americans.

More than two dozen elected officials turned out on the City Hall steps yesterday to back state Sen. Eric Schneiderman as he announced his run for state attorney general. Read more at the NY Post