Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks to your hard work at the grocery stores you've made this Thanksgiving a memorable one for millions of families across New York State. From everyone at Local 1500, we'd like to thank you for your hard work this week and wish you and your loved ones a happy & healthy Thanksgiving!

Tuesday Morning One Liners

Baltimore's City Council approved a Walmart project, protesters failed to convince a single lawmaker to vote against the project, asking Walmart to agree to pay workers a living wage of $10.59 per hour instead of a $7.25 minimum wage.

The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (NYSE:GAP) slid 7% to $3.36 on over 375K shares. SO far this year, the stock is down over 72%. It has a 52-week range of $2.50-$3.34. It has a beta of 2.20.

Price Chopper CEO fights union efforts | The Business Review: Neil Golub, president and CEO, sent a letter to about 24,000 employees at 128 stores in the Northeast telling them joining a union is not in their best interest and that signing union authorization cards would forfeit some of their rights.  

 

New York City announced the first ever Small Business Saturday, in an effort to bolster sales at local stores.

Monday's One Liners: Walmart Woos Al Sharpton...

Alec Baldwin stars in a new Wegman's commercial. More on his love for Wegman's @ Buffalo News.

UFCW Campaign Goes Global: The United Nation's International Labour Organization (ILO) found that Canada and Ontario, through Ontario's ban on farm unions, are in violation of basic human rights' provisions under two United Nations' conventions.

The Albany Times Union covers UFCW's organizing drive at a Capital Region Price Chopper, formerly Penn Traffic.

A new Shop-Rite is rumored to be opening in the Capital Region (Albany).

This weekend, ALDI, who is looking to grow their North East presence, opened their first store in Pittsburgh.

UFCW Local 21(Seattle) has reached a tentative agreement with Allied Employers, just in time for Thanksgiving week.  More @ SN.

Walmart's new Ads highlight their
"generous" donations to nonprofits in NYC

Walmart is putting tremendous effort into opening stores in NYC, last month, they hired a former Bloomberg aide, and now Crain's NY reports: Walmart solicits black leaders for help in NYC. Unsurprisingly, they're also advertising on the same page the article is posted on with this ad [right] citing their donations to nonprofits in NYC.

Looking to strengthen its hand in any battle against unions and elected officials over its planned entry into the New York City market, Walmart has launched an effort to win over local black leaders.

The Walmart Guru, or Czar, Al Norman, wrote an excellent response citing all of Walmart's PR moves to get "inner-city support" throughout the country: Walmart's Wooing of Al Sharpton.

They have done this in Chicago, where the retailer enlisted black Aldermen to embrace their cause, and in New Orleans, where developers actually paid black religious leaders to testify at public hearings about the virtues of chain stores. Now they are mining the black community in New York City.

Wal-Mart apparently feels that opinion leaders in the minority community can be purchased at an everyday low price, and that black stakeholders can become Wal-Mart sign-holders. But community leaders of any color who believe that Wal-Mart creates new jobs, don’t understand what the economic libertarians call creative destructionism–the process of destroying existing jobs in order to create ‘new’ ones. The former employees at Circuit City, for example, understand this dynamic.

No amount of good works or philanthropy can clean the hands of the “filthy rich,” or cover over the global exploitation of human resources that lies at the heart of Wal-Mart’s success

Is Mayor Bloomberg supporting a Walmart?


Walmart is losing shoppers, not trips.

Newsweek covers the eating by class in America: What Food Says About Class in America.

The 86-Page report by the NYC Council which analyzes all aspects of New York's Food Industry, entitled "Food Works" was released today.

SN covers the lead and reusable bags problems.  At least two retailers pulled bags for the time being, one of them was King Kullen.

Weeks End One Liners: BJ's Wholesale Club to Raise Membership Fees

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

BJ's Wholesale Club announced they will raise membership fees.  They recently reported sales gains of 4.8%

Sheepshead Bites wonders if Walmart should come to the five boroughs.

Working in These Times also blogs about the potential Walmart in NYC.


Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post explains, it looks like Walmart is finally going to open in Washington D.C. with their 'urban' format stores.

Wall Street Journal and Washington Post report that Walmart plans on opening four stores in the DC area.

A tentative agreement has been reached between Albertson's and the UFCW in New Mexico.

The Teamsters said they'll honor grocery picket lines if UFCW Local 21 strikes.


Bottom Dollar Food Store is taking a vacant former Pathmark site in Trenton. NJ.com says Bottom Dollar is looking to expanding across the state.


Ahold doesn't meet sales expectations, says sales in U.S. are strong.

Baseball's, Levi's, Converse & Dell Computers, see what else made the list at Yahoo! Finance: 18 Iconic Products that America Doesn't Make Anymore.

Tomato Workers Sign Historical Agreement in Florida:

After more than 15 years of struggle, justice may be just around the corner in the Florida tomato fields. In what workers call a “watershed moment,” the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange (FTGE) yesterday signed an agreement that will extend the CIW’s Fair Food principles to more than 90 percent of the Florida tomato industry.

Migrant workers in Canada bargain historic contract:

A group of seasonal workers in Abbotsford have won what their union says is a precedent-setting contract that includes higher wages and benefits like overtime pay and statutory holidays.

NYC & Greater Area

Bloomberg "trims" thousands of jobs to cut budget.

New Jersey, due to an unclaimed property law that was recently passed, unused gift card balances were being sent to the State after two years of inactivity.  This would of course help the budget deficit that the State faces.  The Jersey Food Council won an injunction to put an end to the State collecting the revenue.

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)