Top 11 Stories This Week, 40 Hour Work Week, Target's Dumb Memos

FEATURED

 

Walmart to Close Super Mall Store in Long Island

 

When Walmart opened this store in Sunrise Mall, Long Island, it was the first of it's kind...A Walmart inside a Shopping Mall.  Now the company announced it won't be renewing its lease for 130,000 square feet this March.

 

House votes down ObamaCare's 30-hour workweek, 252-172

The House on Thursday in a 252-172 vote approved legislation that would waive fees on businesses that do not offer health insurance to employees working fewer than 40 hours per week.

The legislation – which has been at the center of a heavy corporate lobbying campaign – only received 12 Democratic votes. Eighteen Democrats backed the bill during a House vote on the same issue last spring. Read more at The Hill.

Related: 30-hr week battle rages

WHAT'S NEWS THIS WEEK   1. House Votes to Change Full-Time Definition to a 40-Hour Work Week The House of Representatives today passed a bill to change the definition of a full-time employee under the Affordable Care Act to one who works 40 hours per week, rather than 30 hours per week. The bill passed by a vote of 252-172.   2. Target's Dumb Internal Guide to Millennials (and Other Generations) Leaked Retail monster Target has more than 360,000 employees. Some of them are oldies; some of them are Gen Xers; and some of them are the dreaded millennials. Fortunately, the company has a neatly stereotyped training guide for managers to navigate this generational minefield.

3. Analysts Predict Whole Foods Buying Spree 2015 could be the year Whole Foods buys up all their competition.

4. Stop & Shop Certified LEED Silver Stop & Shop has 13 LEED certified stores in the U.S.

5. AFL-CIO President Pushes Obama on Ensuring Overtime Pay for Workers Under $51k “The spotlight is now on raising wages,” Trumka The Washington Post. “Raising wages is the key unifying progressive value that ties all the pieces of economic and social justice together. We think the president has a great opportunity to show that he is behind that agenda by increasing the overtime regulations to a minimum threshold of $51,168. That’s the marker.”

6. Obama Pitches Free Community College Plan $60 billion dollar proposal will provide two free years of community college to all Americans. Your move, Congress.

7. Jobless rate fell to 5.6 percent in December Economy added 252,000 jobs, beating expectations

8. Zara is close to organizing in NYC, Workers received wage increases in December after speaking out against stagnant benefits, now workers need a final push to organize the store.

9. Why the Media Started Caring About the American Worker Again Coverage is up on labor since the recession, but there are few labor reporters out there.

 

10. Fresh Market Signs on to Tomato Pickers' Rights

The Fresh Market announced it has partnered with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a Florida-based tomato workers’ rights organization, to purchase more tomatoes from participating growers.

 

 

11. Congress Seeks to bring back Anti-Privacy Law

 

 

Monday Morning One Liners: New England Stop & Shop Members OK Contract

New England Stop & Shop Negotiations:

Hartford Courant: Stop & Shop workers view economic climate, Vote Yes.

Brian Petronella, president of Local 371 in Connecticut, said the contract, which takes effect retroactively to Feb. 21 when the previous agreement expired, maintains a pension plan and keeps a health plan intact with full-time workers paying slightly more for health care.

From: http://www.gazettenet.com/2010/03/08/workers-ratify-stop-amp-shop-contract

Boston.com:“Through the hard work of negotiators, we were able to reach an agreement that maintained our great health and pension benefits and provided general wage increases,’’ said Jim Carvalho, a spokesman for UFCW Local 1445, which represents 36,000 Stop & Shop employees in southern New England.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/03/08/stop__shop_strike_averted_as_unions_in_southern_new_england_accept_latest_offer/

CBS Coverage with video: http://www.cbs3springfield.com/news/local/86768002.html

Stop & Shop Press Release: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/stop--shop-and-labor-unions-reach-tentative-agreements-86725007.html

Providence Journal: http://www.projo.com/news/content/STOP_SHOP_CONTRACT_8_03-08-10_0IHMNC2_v17.3eabce1.html

NEWS22 (video):http://www.wwlp.com/dpp/news/local/3-unions-ratify-stop-shop-contract

A Labor Professor analyzes the legitimacy of Strike Threats: http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2010/03/06/4660297.htm

Supermarket News:http://supermarketnews.com/retail_financial/labor_pact_0307/

In a posting on the website of one of the locals, UFCW Local 1445, the union said 84% of the workers had voted in favor of the new contract.

Local reports said the new agreements call for full-time workers to "pay slightly more" for health insurance, which had been one of the sticking points of negotiations.

Employees will also receive a one-time payment up to $750, the reports said, in addition to scheduled raises during the next three years.

Shaw's workers reject final offer...

United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 791 members overwhelmingly rejected the Shaw's final contract offer over the weekend.   The vote was 228 to 8. Picket lines began outside the Shaw's warehouse in Methuen Sunday. All perishable food – dairy, produce and meat - for Massachusetts and Rhode Island stores come from that warehouse.  

“The members were basically insulted, to say the least,’’ said Peter Derouen, a spokesman for United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 791, which represents 309 workers at the Methuen facility.

Shaw’s said it “worked hard’’ to try to avoid a strike and is developing a contingency plan to keep the strike from affecting shoppers, according to a statement to NECN-TV.  Local News picked up the story here.

New York

Progressive Grocer: New Duane Reade in Chelsea offers more Grocery,  Fresh Food selections:

Duane Reade’s new location in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City marks the debut of greatly expanded fresh food and grocery sections offering such items as fresh sandwiches, single-serve entrees, baked goods and freshly packed salads and vegetables. According to the New York-based drug store chain, the new features, which place it even more squarely in competition with nearby grocery and convenience stores, represent the latest phase of the company’s continuing “brand and customer experience transformation,” in fulfillment of its “brand mantra” of “New York Living Made Easy.”

The Daily News reports that the search is on for companies responsible for the pollution of the filthy Gowanus Canal - and it already has yielded some big names.

WNYC: Labor Union Blues

Union organizing drives might sound anachronistic these days -- many people who are working feel lucky to have a job. But unions are still trying to grow in New York City, even in areas where they have struggled to gain ground, such as government contractors. Matthew Schuerman has been following the story of a union-organizing drive at an E-ZPass center in Staten Island. Here’s his first installment.

Isaac Colinares,27, lives in a one-bedroom apartment in a worn-out neighborhood on Staten Island. It’s about a mile from his job, where he works answering phone calls and e-mails from E-ZPass customers. He started there two years ago....Read more by Matthew Schuerman

David Letterman is challenging the 2010 National Grocer Association's 'Best Bagger' on the Late Night Show.

Nation

Walmart exposed for 'Outdated and Sexist" hiring practices, Al Norman @ The Huffington Post.

U.S. Jobless Rate Steadies in February, sign of recovery?

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.
Read more of this story

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.
Read more of this story

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.

Wednesday Morning One Liners...

Grocery

Newsday writes on rising costs businesses are facing, focusing on Pathmark and other LI Supermarkets.

Plans call for Fairway to open other four stores in the metropolitan area and hire 2,000 employees. There also are plans to enhance Fairway's private-label business.

Wal-Mart Stores on Tuesday reported quarterly earnings that slightly exceeded analyst estimates, but cited a tough economy while providing a cautious outlook for the second quarter.
Read more of this story

A meat packing plant in the midst of an UFCW organizing campaign has been raided by I.C.E., resulting in the arrests of hundreds.

Responding to Wal-Mart Stores’ expansion of its generic drug program to include 90-day supplies for $10, the Kroger Co. said yesterday it would match the offer in all of its banners.
Read more of this story

Whole Foods Market here said yesterday it expects to complete its rebranding of Wild Oats by the end of the fiscal year, though it will spend another couple of years completing remodeling activity at some locations.
Read more of this story

The North American organic coffee market reached $1 billion in 2007, according to Daniele Giovannucci, author of the North American Organic Coffee Industry Survey.
Read more of this story

A&P’s Food Basics banner will host its annual family festival from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, May 24.
Read more of this story

Politcal

After a landslide victory in West Virginia, Hillary Clinton emailed supporters to say, “[T]he pundits declaring this race over have it all wrong."

Here's are article highlighting the racism Obama volunteers face on the campaign trail.

Obama added 2 more super delegates this morning.

Bush-appointee William Donaldson, Clinton-appointee Arthur Levitt and Reagan-appointee David Ruder plan to announce they're backing Obama Wednesday.

Why labor still rules in New York-and what that will mean this November This is the way things are in New York politics, and the way they have been for decades, though on the national level, few unions would ever consider backing the GOP for much of anything

Mayor Bloomberg has given public money to City Council members

Suffolk lawmakers pass worker status billThe Suffolk Legislature Tuesday passed its much-debated worker status bill, marking the end of a months-long debate over whether the county should require its 17,000 licensed contractors to verify their employees' immigration status.

ALBANY — Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York is appealing to Gov. David A. Paterson and legislative leaders to hold firm against two bills that the city believes would cost as much as $300 million a year. The mayor made his case last week in separate letters to the governor, the Senate majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno, and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.One bill would allow members of District Council 37, an umbrella group of New York City municipal unions, to retroactively buy into an early retirement plan that was offered in 1995, giving city workers a second chance to retire at 55. Read the entire story here

City Council member Darlene Mealy insists her sister's nonprofit group hasn't received a dime from taxpayers - but it wasn't for lack of trying.

Developments

Whole Foods announced in its quarterly report today that it will be opening a store in Closter, NJ. That will be closer to many Rocklanders than the current Edgewater or White Plains locations. Read the story here

The Hudson Yards deal has been declared dead.

Policy

A White House official yesterday told Reuters that high global food prices will likely be a persistent problem for the next two to three years, as the world replenishes depleted stores of grains and soybeans.
Read more of this story

Arguing that the 2007 Farm Bill is still too generous with federal subsidies to large commercial farmers, Grocery Manufacturers Association CEO Cal Dooley is urging lawmakers to oppose the Food and Energy Security Act of 2008, which is linked to the Farm Bill.
Read more of this story

More...NY Post writes on the Farm Bill from Hell.