Top 13 Stories This Week: Target, Stop and Shop, King Kullen and Walmart

1. Stop & Shop and King Kullen negotiating committees reach tentative agreements...Vote scheduled for Monday.  

[Check coverage from Newsday, Westfair, Progressive Grocer Supermarket News]

Find voting times and locations here.

2.  Aldi announced plans to open 650 stores in the next five years. Wow.

3.  With Yucapia as the new owner, Fresh & Easy is already changing.

4.  Over 400,000 no, over 40 million Target customers' credit / debit cards were stolen in a data breach.  Here's how customers are reacting. Forbes calls Target's reaction to customers a PR Nightmare. More on data breaches at retailers from Time.

5.  Amazon may get their first labor union in the U.S., as a warehouse in Delaware preps for a vote that will be watched nationally. If you remember, workers in Germany have gone on strike several times this year (and will continue to in 2014), and have even gone so far as holding demonstrations at the company HQ in Seattle.

6.  Not only would a guaranteed minimum wage increase could eliminate poverty for all, a new study shows it would create jobs. 1 in 10 people working Full-Time are still poor.

7. Walmart is being fined again, this time over $4.7 million dollars, for wage theft.

8. Fairway is holding hourly prize give-a-ways until Christmas.

9.  Whole Foods is pulling Chobani yogurt and they're upping their goal from 1,000 to 1,200 stores in the US.

10.  Brooklyn's Food Pantry is struggling to help fill the gap left by SNAP cuts (food stamps).  You've heard us talk about this before, 47 million people rely on SNAP, cutting it has put us on a dangerous road. Check out why at HungerCliff.

11. Another change was made to the ACA today.

12. Our friends at The Brandworkers, are fighting with workers from Amy's Bread in Queens. Check out the workers campaign for better wages, healthcare and job security here.

13. Chart of the week: Being in a Union Raises Women's Pay 12.9 percent.

Quick Hits: Fast-Food workers at the Smithsonian have unionized. Ikea has been spying on their employees for a long time, DC passed a minimum wage increase, President Obama said Immigration Reform is at the top of the list for his presidency, and The US South is finally coming around on unions.

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Recycling water bottles put on hold, UFCW merge in Ohio, Non-Union supermarkets not paying baggers, Wednesday Morning One Liners...

Image by quaisi via Flickr

Peapod has introduced a line of six ready-to-heat, healthy prepared meals by celebrity Chicago chef Michael Foley. Exclusive to the e-grocer, the restaurant-quality entrees are available for

delivery in the Chicago market under the Peapod’s Chef Express Smart Selections brand.

The New York State Department of Labor announced a major settlement with supermarkets (non-union) that were not paying their baggers an hourly wage.

Newsday: The future of the Supermarket: Hand Scanners.

NY Times Dining section says goodbye to Balducci's and Hello Gourmet Garage.

More on the Ohio UFCW merger.

IGA opened a store in Guam last week.

This week the National Association of Chain Drug Stores sent a letter to Congressional leaders asking for pro-patient, pro-pharmacy provisions in healthcare reform.

The Illinois Food Marketing Task Force is calling on lawmakers to create a new “Illinois Fresh Food Fund” initiative to stimulate supermarket development in underserved areas across the state while simultaneously improving health in low-income communities and attracting significant private investment and jobs

A new Stop & Shop in Orangeberg...

Politics

The expansion on NY State's recycling laws has been halted by a federal judge, putting a stop to recycling water bottles, which the state anticipated to receive millions of dollars from to aid the budget.

Environmentalists are upset that a court has delayed the state's bottle deposit law.

New York City is the safest of the 25 largest cities in the United States.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and city labor officials announced a tentative agreement Tuesday to amend health benefits for more than 550,000 current and retired city employees, guaranteeing the city $400 million in savings over the next two fiscal years.

The Governor of Colorado has turned his back on UFCW members.

Happy Friday Morning One Liners...

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A coalition of labor and community organizations accused drugstore giant CVS yesterday of stocking its San Diego County stores with over-the-counter medications and food that had expired.

UFCW 1657 will meet with prospective buyers of Bruno's Supermarkets who filed for chapter 11 last week.

UFCW Local 23's bargaining committee is set to begin negotiations with representatives of Kuhns Quality Foods on Friday, March 27th. It has been nearly two months since Kuhns first recognized the union workers at the Beulah Road location--the first one of Kuhns eight stores where workers enjoy a union voice in the workplace.

Grocery Union asks Governor Patterson to remove Bottle Bill from the Budget.

Workers at IGA stores in British Columbia this week authorized union leaders to call a strike as negotiations for a new contract continue.
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A&P finally introduces their 'Green Way' brand.

The membership of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1099 has voted to approve the merger of its union with UFCW Local 911, the final step in creating a new entity, Local 75, which will become effective April 1, union officials told SN Thursday.
Read more of this story

2,000 teachers' jobs are in jeopardy.

Newsday has more on job cuts in schools.

A UFCW Local strikes in Canada, Target fined for overcharging, Whole Foods Gowanus is a lingering question mark, Thursday One Liners...

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Nearly 800 workers at Loblaw Cos Ltd's 13 Maxi stores in eastern Quebec went on strike on Wednesday over wages and benefits, the union said.

More from Supermarket News

The Brooklyn Paper says Whole Foods needs a partner in the Gowanus project.

Whole Foods stock yesterday hit all time seven-year low.

Sears Holdings will remove grocery departments at four Super Kmart stores and convert them to the nonfood Big Kmart format, a company spokeswoman told SN Wednesday.
Read more of this story

Target stores have agreed to pay a $1.7 million civil penalty for overcharging California customers through electronic cash register scanners that rang up too-high prices, the Sonoma County district attorney's office said Tuesday.

Wal-Mart's new Green sustainability push.

Politics

Newsday writes on the nasty State Senate race between Craig Johnson and Barbara Donno.

Palin's $150,000 wardrobe.