What's up on Tuesday News: Recall Walker.

Quote of the day:
"we can do whatever we want, we're a corporation" 

-Target Official on making absurd rules on where workers can and can't discuss unions. 

Gawker gives some highlights of Target's illegal actions during last year's union election.  Some of our favorites that make your head shake:

Casolino told her that they could not speak there “because you are talking about the union.” At that time Waddy asked if they could speak across the street, and Casolino replied “not if you are talking about the same thing. The whole mall would have a problem with it.”4 Waddy answered that he could not “mandate” what his employees speak about, and Casolino replied that “we can do whatever we want, we’re a corporation.” Waddy said “the whole mall? Really?” Casolino laughed and asked them to leave

One thing you need to think about very seriously is that we have ALMOST 1800 STORES and 350,000 TEAM MEMBERS. We would have no difficulty hiring PERMANENT REPLACEMENTS for ECONOMIC STRIKERS. Unions like to call a strike an “economic war.” The 260 TMs [team members] here against 350,000 does not feel like good odds to me. I repeat 260 against 350,000... (Emphasis in original)

PR Watch asks if Scott Walker get a Pink-Slip, Orange Jump Suit or Second Chance?

Today is Recall Walker Day!  Union members throughout the country are volunteering their time at phone banks and at home with AFL-CIO's online pilot program to GOTV and recall Governor Walker.

Not everybody is making calls from a phone bank. More than 600 people have signed up for the AFL-CIO’s online pilot program, the Friends and Neighbors tool to make calls from home. Go to http://wisconsinfan.aflcio.org/users/login to sign up.

UFCW members are doing their part to GOTV, check it out @ UFCW Blog.

VOTE: The 2012 election is upon us. The stakes for workers couldn’t be higher. CEOs and special interests are dumping millions of dollars into races across the country to help elect anti-worker candidates.  June is UFCW Voter Protection Month! Check it out and get involved!

AlterNet: Workers win battle over Stop & Shop in Social Media case.

More kids are living in poverty in the U.S. than elsewhere...check out this stunning study.

Trader Joe's is opening their first store in Albany this summer.

Walmart shareholder votes show a serious unrest; 40% of public shareholders (not Waltons or execs/board members) voted no on Scott; ~32% voted no on Duke

Walmart discloses shareholder lawsuit details @ WSJ.

Second year in a row, Survey names Aldi low-price grocer of the year.


Gourmet Retailer: Fairway adds 2nd NJ Store.

Friday Morning One-Liners: 3/9-3/11;

“And for those politicians who seek to emulate Governor Walker, rest assured, these attacks on middle class families have unified and inspired an even stronger grassroots movement for change in this country.”   UFCW International's statement on GOP attacking workers' rights.

Wednesday night under sobering pressure from polls and recalls, Governor Walker urgently rammed through his anti-union legislation.  "In 30 minutes, the 18 Republican senators stripped away 50 years of worker rights," Poll after poll shows support for Public Workers and thousands of protesters rushed the state Capitol in Wisconsin.

The UFCW International released a statement on Wisconsin GOP's attack on workers. 

Labor has vowed to step up the recall effort in Wisconsin, "This legislative gimmick proves Walker's attack on the middle class was never about balancing the budget; it was always about stripping workers of a voice and rewarding the cronies who helped finance his campaign." Read more @ Huffington Post.

Mad about Wisconsin?? Tell your NY elected officials via AFL-CIO.  

32 BJ Press Release: Democracy, Not Just Wages, Under Attack in Wisconsin & Elsewhere.

Thousands gather @ Indiana's Statehouse for a labor rally.

NFL Players back Indiana's public workers.

#Industry

The first three 15,000 sqft Walmarts will open between May and early summer in Arkansas.  More @Bloomberg.

Business Week & The WSJ report Walmart plans on opening 'hundreds' of small stores.

On Thursday, Walmart said the company is considering acquiring retailers with smaller stores to help turn around its weakened U.S. business.  More @ ABC News.

In a few days, Betty Dukes will be fighting Walmart in the Supreme Court, send her a message of encouragement.

Join Walmart Watch in calling Justice Antonin Scalia to recuse himself from the Dukes v. Walmart case.  The Justice's son is a partner at Walmart's law firm in the massive gender discrimination suit.

A  BJ's Wholesale club will be opening in Garden City in 2012.

Fresh Direct is receiving a $50M investment to expand out of NY.

Friday Morning One-Liners:

A&P will next week ask a bankruptcy judge to approve $1.76 million in payments to four of its top executives, part of a $6.8 million "key employee retention plan" that covers 146 non-union employees.  Read more @ WSJ.

NY Times: U.S. Economy adds 192,00 Jobs, Rate Falls to 8.9&

The nation’s employers added 192,000 jobs in February, after having added just 63,000 the previous month.  Find the latest statistics here.

Yesterday, Creditors, Unions (UFCW), Trustee Objected to A&P's Bonus Plan.  Calling the plan a "band-aid" retention plan.

More @WSJ: A&P will next week ask a bankruptcy judge to approve $1.76 million in payments to four of its top executives, part of a $6.8 million "key employee retention plan" that covers 146 non-union employees. 

Three days until California contracts expire covering 62,000 UFCW grocery workers. More @PressEnterprise.

Ahold's Q4 summary shows "solid" numbers.

Ahold, Looking for Growth: “We're actively looking for growth opportunities where we see a strategic fit, the price is right, and we can integrate smoothly,” Dick Boer, chief executive officer of Ahold, from today's Supermarket News.

Major LGBT groups say NO to Walmart in NYC.

John Castimatidis (CEO of Gristedes) joined Neil Cavuto to discuss rising inflation.

Target will pay $22.5M for illegally dumping Toxic Waste out in California.

NYPIRG has 2010's top lobbyist clients, 2010 broke records on $$ spent, with Beverage and Teachers topping the list.

#Wisconsin

Scott Walker, Governor of Wisconsin, says he will start issuing layoff warnings to public sector unions representing 1,500 employees on Friday, if his bill remained in limbo.  Read more @NYTimes

Walker's Budget extends attacks on Seniors, Children & Poor.

AFL-CIO Blog: Killing Workplace Rights is Un-American.  

Must Watch: Watch Congressman George Miller's speech on the floor: Attack on Middle-Class American's.

Must Read: The New Yorker, Union Blues. & Richard Trumka's Op-Ed in WSJ: Scott Walker's False Choice

Half of Wisconsin's workers want to recall Walker.

Message from UFCW International President, Joe Hansen; Re: Wisconsin

Image via Wikipedia

You've no doubt seen by now that tens of thousands of working Americans, including UFCW members, have come to the Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin to rally, protest, and make a stand for workers' rights. It's no exaggeration to say that what's happening in Wisconsin is of great importance to working families. It may be our last chance to save our shrinking middle class.

Republican Governor Scott Walker's attempt to strip public workers' collective bargaining rights under the pretense of balancing the state budget has got working Americans all over the country up in arms. Especially since Wisconsin's budget was in great shape until Governor Walker decided to reward his corporate buddies with tax breaks.

It's the same old corporate greed that we've seen chipping away at the American Dream in the last few years, with politicians exploiting working people while stuffing the pockets of their Wall Street cronies.

But it's clear as the momentum keeps building and the movement keeps growing in Wisconsin that this is no ordinary protest. And now workers nationwide are joining with Wisconsin's workers to make a last stand for the middle class. Click here to find out more info on where and when these rallies are happening, and if there's one near you.

These are families who have seen years of Republican fiscal irresponsibility—and are saying, no more.

These are union members who are tired of being scapegoated by the same old politics—of being told that they're responsible for this fiscal crisis, rather than the CEOs and Wall Street speculators that drove our economy into the ground.

These are students and teachers and parents and nurses and firefighters and retail clerks and plant workers and auto workers and steel workers and plumbers and truck drivers and public employees—these are the ordinary working people that make this country strong.

And they have had enough.

It's not just in Wisconsin, either. In states all across the country—maybe your state, too—Republicans are proposing bills to take away workers' rights, to destroy the unions that serve as the last line of defense for America's middle class.

Click here to find out here what's going on in your state and what you can do to help.

And call your elected officials to let them know you oppose any such legislation in your state.

President Obama was half right when he said what was happening in Wisconsin is “an assault on unions.” Because it's not just unions. The laws that are being proposed in Wisconsin and elsewhere are an assault on all working people, on all working families.

So the middle class is making a stand in Wisconsin. And if we can stop Governor Walker there, we can stop similar attacks on workers across the nation. It's so important that we stand with our brothers and sisters in Wisconsin, as well as in Indiana, in Ohio, and all over the country.

Click here to find out how you can help workers stand up for the middle class and save the American Dream—before it's gone for good.

In solidarity,

Joe Hansen

UFCW International President