Thursday Morning One Liners: CWA & IBEW Win Battle vs Verizon

Found on Twitter: According to #Romney's logic, he could not win the vote of his Dad, who would be one of the 47% via @MoveOn #47percent ow.ly/dRfiW

High rents are hitting middle class New Yorkers harder than anywhere else in the country.

Middle-income renters, defined as those earning between $35,000 and $75,000 annually, face the most pressure in Manhattan, where 45% pay rent that is officially "unaffordable." But even those living in less expensive Staten Island and Queens aren't much better off. There, 44% of middle-class residents in both boroughs shoulder unaffordable housing costs.
According to the study, 30% of New Yorkers devote more than half their income to rent alone. The high cost of living here is threatening to drive the middle class out of the city, Mr. Liu said.

Read more: http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20120919/ECONOMY/120919873#ixzz271FO9JNy

CWA& IBEW Win battle w/ Verizon after 13-month negotiation.  Read the statement from the CWA.

More @ Crain's NY: Verizon reaches a tentative contract

Good Read: WNYC looks at New York's 47%.

Elsewhere: Profiting from Climate Change: Oil companies rush to the arctic to drill as glaciers melt.

NY Industry News Round Up: 4/19-4/21

Image via Wikipedia

 "We will not allow any employer, regardless of size, to attempt to take advantage of another employer's unfortunate circumstances.  We will not be divided on this, and stand ready with our sister UFCW and RWDSU Locals and their members..."

-A letter to all employers with CBA's with UFCW Locals representing A&P stores, check it out on our blog.

Bazzini (notorious peanuts from Yankee Stadium) is closing their manufacturing plant in the Bronx and moving to P.A., cutting 57 jobs.

DNAinfo says East Harlem shops are lame and residents want to shop local.

Students at NYU are standing up for Farmers' rights @ Trader Joe's.
The goal, she says, is to change Trader Joe's, not to sabotage it.
"I don't think it's a terrible company," she said. "I just think it's ridiculously secretive and its marketing is false." 

Locals from Fort Greene, Brooklyn, want more than just bread from their new Red Apple Supermarket.  The store is planned to create over 100 unionized jobs.

A Local 1500 represented ShopRite in Staten Island sold a winning mega millions lottery ticket on Friday worth $72 million. When the winner comes forward, the store will get $10,000.
The store owner, Kevin Mannix, plans to donate the bonus to three organizations that help the homeless and hungry.  Great job!

 ShopRite is helping to rebuild a Church and a Food Pantry in upstate NY. 

They [ShopRite] also rumored to be taking a new site up in the Captial Region.


A Stop & Shop in Queens provides emergency assistance to Kosher Food Pantry.


A new Stop & Shop is set to open next month in Oceanside, creating over 150 union jobs to the area.


Stop & Shop is also replacing their 'produce lighting'


More than 60,000 Southern California grocery workers are voting on whether to authorize a strike against some of the state's largest supermarket chains.

A study released on Monday by University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education found that increasing wages to $12 per hour would cost Wal-Mart $3.2 billion if applied to all workers across the United States. That amounts to about 1 percent of the company’s annual sales of $305 billion.  Read more @WorkinginTheseTimes.  More @ Huffington Post.

A Dover (Delaware) landlord is weary about his shopping center now that A&P's SuperFresh is up for sale.

Politics
Tell lawmakers 'don't make us work until we die!' In a new video message from the coalition, Strengthen Social Security, Don't Cut it!  Check it out @AFL-CIO's blog.


The Fifth Wisconsin recall petition is ready for filing.


While Republican lawmakers and right-wing talking heads try to demonize the union movement, physicians, nurses, flight instructors, technicians, bakers and more are the latest workers to choose a voice on the job with AFL-CIO unions.  Read more @ the AFL-CIO Blog.


Our next General Membership Meeting is June 8th, RSVP on Facebook!

Friday Morning One-Liners: Unreleased Poll Reveals Opposition to Walmart in NYC

Metro: Walmart Butters up the Five Boroughs.

New poll shows that there is overwhelming opposition to Walmart opening in NYC.

The New York Observer analyzes the Walmart mailings.

NYC Public Advocate, Bill de Blasio, Fighting Walmart (NY Daily News) You can check out his report on Walmart with Hunter College here.


Report: Walmart moving to NYC would Kill Jobs.

Walmart, however, obviously isn't buying this report.

Crain's: The Story behind Walmart's Plans to get into NYC.

Local 1500 Assistant to the President, Pat Purcell joined the Neil Cavuto show on FOX Business News to discuss Walmart in NYC. [Transcript]  [Video]

WNYC: Financial 411, Walmart Eyes NYC.

In South Africa, where Walmart has purchased Massmart, the major retailer in South Africa, many are protesting and fearful of the acquisition by Walmart.


Target is expanding their fresh foods.


Price Chopper announced they'll be merging with a local pharmacy.

Trader Joe's announced they'll be open in the spring in Staten Island.

UFCW 1189 began negotiations yesterday in Minnesota.

Mid-Weed One Liners: Aldi is Coming to the Bronx, Queens and Long Island

Image via Wikipedia

Aldi begins to make Footprints on NY 

Aldi is coming to Long Island, The Bronx and Queens according to a report from Newsday [subscription].

Aldi, coming to Pelham Gardens in the Bronx, as News 12 reports.

On Tuesday it was reported that King Kullen pulled reusable bags from the shelves due to lead concerns.  More @ CBS News.  Now they're saying their reusable bags have tested safe.
 
Fairway Market in Douglaston is set to open in Spring '11.

UFCW 21 has called in a Federal Mediator for their negotiations.
Whole Foods enters Walmart's territory, OKC.

Walmart lost a development fight in San Diego: City leaders voted to force big-box retailers that want to sell groceries to study how a store will affect the surrounding neighborhood before a building permit is considered.

Officials in a suburbanRochester town have rejected a local Walmart store's request to remain open through Thanksgiving night into the morning of Black Friday.

A union effort is underway to organize Price Chopper stores, some of whose hourly employees were represented by UFCW when they worked in the recently sold Penn Traffic stores.

In Pennsylvania, a Giant Eagle worker was arrested for talking "Union" in the store, and found not-guilty.

NY State Senator Savino (Staten Island) teamed up with our brothers and sisters in RWDSU 338 donating turkeys.

Related articles

• Supermarket Chain Pulls Reusable Bags Over Lead (newyork.cbslocal.com)

Monday's One Liners: Walmart on 6th Ave? Really?

Would Walmart fit on Sixth Avenue? DNAinfo is reporting Walmart's renewed push to open a store in East Harlem or Sixth Avenue.  The story also reports Walmart tried to bolster some NY Public Relations by becoming the principal sponsor of last week's Veteran's Day Parade.

NPR: Walmart competes for New York City shoppers by offering free shipping.

The ACLU is suing Walmart for firing a medical marijuana patient.

In South Africa, where Walmart is attempting to take control of retail market, the government has set up a panel to study the economic impact Walmart will have.


Nick Shulz of the American thinks Union's need a better argument against Walmart after the NY Post's (notorious Walmart supporters) continued biased statistics of New Yorkers' shopping habits at nearby Walmart.

Those who think we need a better argument (including Mr. Shulz) should read Amy Traub's recent piece in the Huffington Post, entitled "New York's Lousy Jobs (And how we can make them better)" A must read.

UFCW Local 21, UFCW 81 and Teamsters 38 [Seattle]– bargaining in concert- are set to resume bargaining this week. [The Olympian]

A longtime employee of the Whole Foods Market in St.Louis is suing the company for firing her after she complained to her superiors about the alleged mishandling of organic produce.

For all you Social Media users, the NLRB announced that Worker Rights extend to Facebook, check out the synopsis in UFCW International's Blog: http://ufcw.blogspot.com/2010/11/worker-rights-extend-to-facebook-labor.html

Think your re-usable bag is good? Think again, a new report surfaced citing most reusable bags contain lead and are hothouses for bacteria according to reports from the NY Times and Daily News.

Supermarket News reports that retailers throughout New York met last month to receive more information on how to get publicly supported grants and loans that would help them build or improve stores in underserved neighborhoods in New York state — so-called “food deserts” that lack access to fresh foods.  We need to get the message out to our unionized operators to take advantage of these opportunities.  Stop & Shop opened in Far Rockaway last month receiving grants and loans in program similar to this.

New Dorp ShopRite donated 1,000 Turkeys to needy families. [Video]

Friday Morning One Liners....Burkle & Barnes and Noble, Re-Invention of Fresh Direct

The "Food Basics" brand is now available in the aisles of Pathmark stores. “This economy has definitely affected our customers’ shopping budgets. The new Food Basics and Home Basics brands will allow our shoppers to buy all their household necessities for much less than national brands,” Sam Martin, chief executive officer of A&P, said in a statement Thursday.  [Press Release]

Crain's NY Business: Ron Burkle and Barnes & Noble:
Barnes & Noble said Thursday it has not reached a settlement with financier Ron Burkle's Yucaipa Cos. after news reports the companies were close to a deal. Mr. Burkle, who owns a 19% stake in the bookseller, is suing the company in an effort to expand his stake without triggering a poison pill plan.
Trader Joe's is rumored to be coming to Staten Island, the Staten Island Advance wonders if this is a welcomed or unwanted addition to the community..
Fresh Direct, a Re-Invention after Crisis...[NY Times] Surviving a major crisis — an immigration audit that decimated the company’s work force — at a time when the company was hemorrhaging money and alienating customers because its basic business model was not working...
NY Times: State Officials Skeptical of Willets Point Project
And guess what New Yorkers, you'll be voting on Term Limits again this November.

Thursday Morning One Liners: Shaw's, Fairway & Fast Food in NYC

The CEO of Fairway Market ended months of speculation when he confirmed the supermarket chain will open a branch on the Upper East Side at a Community Board 8 meeting Wednesday.  More @ DNAinfo.

New Stop & Shop in Farmingdale: They are set to open for business late spring or early summer, a spokesperson said. The 74,000 square foot store will be housed on a nine-acre section of land and is expected to create 30 full-time management and 140 part-time jobs, according to Stop & Shop spokesperson Kevin Ryan.

Cheerios first honored employees in Philadelphia, now here in NYC, Staten Island, ShopRite employees are being honored with their photo's on new Cheerios boxes. “It’s a reflection of the Staten Island community and the associates creating these results,” said Kevin Mannix, owner of the Graniteville grocery store.

JetBlue's HQ lands in Queens: Queens beats out Orlando in hard-fought battle to house growing airline; New York City to keep 950 jobs as JetBlue relocates from Forest Hills to Long Island City.

Hyde Park Set to OK new Stop & Shop — The town Planning Board is poised to approve construction of a Stop & Shop supermarket in the Hyde Park Mall after several years of board review and site-plan modifications.

Shaw's Strike

Supermarket News: Shaw's has told the union representing striking workers at its distribution center here that it has "started the process of recruiting and hiring permanent replacement workers" at the facility.

Eagle Tribune: Shaw's says it will replace striking workers.

Boston Globe: Shaw's will layoff 4% of its workers.

Shaw’s Supermarkets Inc. said yesterday that it plans to lay off 4 percent of its store associates in early April in an effort to stay competitive and make its stores more efficient. The move comes more than two weeks after hundreds of its workers went on strike across New England.

Shaw’s spokeswoman Judy Chong said the cutbacks will take effect on April 10 and include “some full-time retail positions’’ in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. But she declined to say how many employees

UFCW Local 791 meanwhile has blasted Shaw's for issuing this threat:
“Many of these men and women have worked at the warehouse for many years. By threatening to bring in replacement workers, Shaw’s is jeopardizing the livelihoods of hundreds of workers and their families. It is long past time for the Company to return to the table and publicly demonstrate its commitment to their hard working and dedicated employees who have helped make Shaw’s a successful company,” Read more: Press Release



Progressive Grocer: UFCW 791 Rips Shaw's for Threatening to Hire Permanent Replacement Workers.

Supermarket News: Walmart On the Attack, Food Price Wars
“Wal-Mart is lacing up the gloves as it prepares to step back into the ring and win the modern-day price war in food retail,” said Deborah Weinswig, an analyst with Citigroup, New York, in a report issued last week. Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores posted a rare dip in comparable-store sales for the fourth quarter — an event that served as “a wake-up call for management,” she said.

BJ's Wholesale Club will be moving into new corporate headquarters in Westborough, Mass., early next year, a spokeswoman for the chain told SN Wednesday. 

South Hampton Press: Is King Kullen in the plans for a new store at the new Tuckahoe Hamlet Center?
The hamlet of Tuckahoe, a mostly residential community without much of a commercial center, may soon feature a large shopping development that includes a King Kullen grocery store, as many as four restaurants, more than 10 retail shops and about a dozen new apartments.

Politics

Crain's: NYC Sick-Day Bill to be Reintroduced.

Speaker Christine Quinn on the Big Mac Attack:
Hoping to stop fast-food restaurants from saturating poor neighborhoods, she announced plans Tuesday to single out the junk-food joints in the city zoning code.  Read more:@ NY Daily News

Monday Morning One Liners...

Aquaina is charging $2.99 for 24-pack of bottled water.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

The Castleton Corners King Kullen (Staten Island) supermarket originally scheduled to close today will remain open through the middle of January, according to a representative for the landlord. 

Stop & Shop will pull the plug on 43 in-store Starbucks.

Publix is opening a hybrid organic store.

A new survey shows that women are gloomier than men about the economy.

Bottled water manufacturers are cutting prices to compete with consumers who have turned to tap water and brita to cut costs and reduce environmental wastes. 

Time Magazine looks at the website 'People of Wal-Mart'

Wal-Mart development defeated in Manor, Pennsylvania.

Kingsbridge Armory update, Town Hall's filled with union members, Tuesday Read....

Image via Wikipedia

UFCW and other union members are packing Obama's town halls as the Washington Post reports.

Kingsbridge Armory Supermarket:
Borough President Ruben Diaz has joined with the entire Bronx City Council delegation in opposing a new supermarket at the Kingsbridge Armory.

The Daily News picks up the story on the failures and foreclosures at Atlas Park, in Glendale, Queens.

The Wall Street Journal wonders what the Whole Foods boycott will do to the publicly traded company.

Supermarket News and the New York Times also ran stories regarding Mackey's comments.

The New York Times previews BJ's Wholesale Club's second quarter earnings, after J.P. Morgan downgraded the stock yesterday.

A problem-plagued $22.4 million scheme to transform a 222-acre former Bronx landfill into a spectacular PGA-regulation golf course has not only missed its deadline by eight years, it will now cost an additional $100 million, The NY Post reported.

Politics

Crain's says "the Bronx is burning" over failed real estate deals.

NYC gets stimulus for affordable housing. The NY Times has more.

The New York Times also looks at the economic health in Staten Island.

Former Bronx borough president is endorsing de Blasio.

Monday morning short liners...

Image by myJon via Flickr

The Staten Island Advance writes another article on Pathmark's return to New Dorp.

Delaware ShopRite to open first LEED certified supermarket in the state.

In Boston, a Superior Court judge here who refused to allow Wal-Mart to settle a class-action lawsuit involving off-the-clock work and shortened breaks has scheduled the case to go to trial Oct. 5, according to published reports.

A highly contagious fungus that destroys tomato plants has quickly spread to nearly every state in the Northeast and the mid-Atlantic, and the weather over the next week may determine whether the outbreak abates or whether tomato crops areruined, according to federal and state agriculture officials

In Massachusetts, paperless food stamps easier to use at farmers' markets.

Steven Greenhouse: Democrats cut 'Card Check' from Employee Free Choice Act.

Friday's One Liners...

Image via Wikipedia

Wild by Nature was recognized for entire approach of sustainability and energy efficiency.

Forbes.com looks at the innovation of Michael Cullen in 1930 in the supermarket industry.

The Nation looks at labor, and all the hats it wears.

Pathmark hosts a saving promotion.

Workers for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, came to the Capitol in Washington today to urge passage of legislation that would make it easier for them to form a union.

Check out more about yesterday's events here.

A Wal-Mart in Minnesota takes steps toward organizing.

Bruno's gets an extension on Final Sale hearing.

And merchants in the city-owned mall beneath the Manhattan Bridge, at 88 East Broadway, have alleged that they are being extorted by the mall's managers, who they say have demanded cash in exchange for leases and lease extensions.

Colorado Updates

King Soopers Inc. and Safeway Inc. will begin advertising Friday to hire replacement workers should unionized workers go on strike after their contract expires May 9.

Safeway Meat workers OK'd a strike.

The CBS affiliate looks at possibilities of a strike.

The Denver Post makes it clear that the companies are ready for temp-job applications.

Business Journal has more on strike preparations.

POLITICO

NY Times sums up the Mayoral Endorsements.

Andrew Lanza is putting finishing touches on a bill to secede Staten Island from New York City.

What does the Specter switch mean for Employee Free Choice?

Related articles by Zemanta

• Nan Aron: The Price of Freedom at Walmart (huffingtonpost.com)

Toys 'R' Us selling Groceries, Another Target in Staten Island, Thursday One Liners...

Image by matneym via Flickr

Aisle 4 in Toys 'R' Us: Groceries?, Toys 'R' Us announced they will begin selling groceries in 260 stores.

Kohl's and Target are looking for new stores in Staten Island.

Here's more from the 2009 Staten Island Conference.

A protest is set for tomorrow at Representative Peter King's office in light of his flip flopping views on the Employee Free Choice Act.

A Garment Factory raided by the DOL yesterday had been producing NYPD uniforms.

Supermercado de Wal-Mart, the new Hispanic-focused food concept from Wal-Mart, opened its first location in Houston Wednesday, bringing what Eduardo Castro-Wright, vice chairman of Wal-Mart, called “the most dramatic expression” of its recent efforts to improve fresh food merchandising

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has given Ohio $1.7 million as repayment for a tax credit on an optical lab that the company closed in March.

Suffolk County makes a deal with union to avoid layoffs.

The Daily News writes on the future of the stores at Atlas Park.

Safeway workers overwhelmingly ratify a contract.

Duane Reade inks another deal in NYC.

NY Times: Cheap meat at the supermarkets.

Foxwoods and UAW talk, for 6-months now.

The group buying Balducci's chose to close the under performing stores.

The record online reports on the UFCW Local 1262 contract.

The city’s 59 community boards face budget cuts of around $7,000 each.

Marty Markowitz threw out plans for 10,000 square-feet of retail space along Surf Avenue, in Coney Island.

And finally a Nintendo DS was sold in a Wal-Mart full of rocks and Newspapers.

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• Unions push on Wal-Mart (dailyfinance.com)

Local 1500 joins in fight to monitor labor laws...

Image via CrunchBaseStreet-Level Groups Enlisted to Report Labor Violations

By SEWELL CHAN and COLIN MOYNIHAN

To crack down on businesses that pay less than the minimum wage, fail to pay overtime or to pay wages altogether, steal tips or commit other labor violations, the New York State Department of Labor is starting an experimental program that will rely on community organizations to monitor compliance with labor laws.

In an announcement, the state labor commissioner, M. Patricia Smith, called the program, the New York Wage Watch, a “one-of-a-kind grassroots tool in the fight against illegal labor practices.”

The six-month pilot will begin with six participants: the Chinese Staff and Workers’ Association, which will focus on Chinatown, Flushing and parts of Long Island; Make the Road New York, which will focus on Bushwick; the Workplace Project, based on Long Island; the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which will look at high-end supermarkets; the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which will focus on retail stores in Lower Manhattan, Bushwick, the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx and parts of Queens; and the Centro del Inmigrante, based on Staten Island.

The six groups will conduct know-your-rights training, providing employers with information about compliance and distributing brochures to workers in supermarkets, laundromats, nail salons, day-labor sites and other work areas. They will have a designated contact in the Labor Department’s Division of Labor Standards, which enforces wage and hour laws, to whom they can refer violations or questions.

The department is to provide training and materials to the groups starting on Feb. 7.

After the first experiment in New York City and on Long Island, the Labor Department will seek additional groups for the program. The groups must be nongovernmental and nonprofit, and can include religious organizations, student groups, labor unions, business associations or neighborhood groups.

Ms. Smith said the program was loosely based on the Neighborhood Watch programs that began in Queens in the 1960s. In December 2007, she said, the Labor Department investigated a commercial strip in Bushwick. Two of the six groups now taking part in the pilot project — Make the Road New York and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union — maintained a presence in the Bushwick area, staying in touch with workers and employers, and the number of labor-law violations went down, Ms. Smith said.

The Labor Department has documented numerous labor-law violations at a variety of workplaces in recent years, from restaurants and car washes to sites like the Saratoga Race Course and the Erie County Fair.

Amy Carroll, a supervising lawyer at Make the Road New York, said, “The Department of Labor can’t be in every nook and cranny of the city and the state all the time. We want employers to know there are costs for violating the law. They can’t get away with it.”

Respnose to King Kullen closing store in Staten Island

Image via WikipediaUnion Responds to Closing of Staten Island King Kullen Supermarket

Quick and Aggressive First Steps Taken to Assist Workers.

QUEENS VILLAGE, NY (01/22/2009; 1253)-- United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1500 is responding as quickly and aggressively as possible in response to the news that the King Kullen Supermarket located at 2660 Hylan Blvd. in the New Dorp section Staten Island will be closing in late February of this year, according to Local Union President Bruce W. Both.

"We are extremely concerned about our members who work in that store and will do everything within our power to minimize the effect this store closing has on them and their families," Both concluded. "Furthermore, this is another example of why New York City quickly must move on economic reforms to encourage the preservation and development of Supermarkets. This is a crisis that strikes at the heart of the economic viability of all communities," Both concluded.

President Both outlined the Unions first responses to the store closing announcement:

• Notifying King Kullen of its legal obligations under both Federal and State WARN Acts, the law covering the closing of such facilities.
• Enforcement of the Unions Collective Bargaining Agreement with regard to seniority.
• Contacting other Supermarket operators who may be interested in the soon to be vacant location
• Outreach to Local elected leaders at the City and State level for assistance
• Possible Placement of members within other Unionized Supermarkets.

In addition to these efforts, President Both called on King Kullen management to rethink its decision to close the store. "Just over one year ago this store was a Pathmark Supermarket. Many of the workers there today are Pathmark holdovers and have been in the industry for over 20 years," Both commented. "We urge the company to reconsider its decision and continue to fulfill its commitment to making the Hylan Boulevard store the success we all know it can be, "concluded Both.

United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1500, based out of Queens Village, represents over 23,000 grocery workers in New York City, Long Island, Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess Counties. Members of Local 1500 are employed by Pathmark, King Kullen, Stop and Shop, Gristedes, Fairway, D'Agostino, Key Food and Shop Rite, Dairy Barn.

King Kullen to close in Staten Island, Friday news...

Image via WikipediaHere's Obama on the Employee Free Choice Act.

King Kullen in New Dorp, Staten Island to shut doors next month.

Supermarket News covers the story.

"We are extremely concerned about our members who work in that store and will do everything within our power to minimize the effect this store closing has on them and their families," said Bruce Both, president of Local 1500.

Revenue at some Long Island City establishments is down as much as 70 percent, in large part due to recent weekend No. 7 line service interruptions and the closure of nearby Borden Avenue Bridge for repairs, according to several business owners interviewed by the Queens Chronicle this week.

Canada Wal-Mart asks High Court to dismiss store closure suit.

Stop & Shop Supermarket responds to the peanut butter recall.

Another New Jersey Wal-Mart opens [AC].

The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. here said yesterday it would sell a line of "stylish, reusable" lunch bags at all its banners: A&P, The Food Emporium, Pathmark, SuperFresh and Waldbaum's.

Long Island lost 21,600 private-sector jobs in the 12-month period ended in December, compared with a year ago, marking the weakest local job market in 16 years, according to data released yesterday by the New York State Labor Department.


Politics

Patterson picks Gillibrand for Senate.

Rep Carolyn McCarthy knocks Patterson's selection.

Suozzi's future is in Albany.