Friday Morning One Liners...Ahold buys a new chain,

""Farm workers are human beings. We're not farm animals. We have human rights. We should be treated like other workers in Ontario and be allowed to unionize," farm worker Mindy Leng said in a written release.

After Colorado's Safeway workers rejected their "last, best and final offer", they're now sitting in limbo after the vote to reject the proposal was nearly 63%.   Meanwhile a majority of King Soopers members 'OK'd' the deal.  The Colorado Gazette is reporting that five small bargaining units  rejected the King Soopers contract.

Union Market, a specialty grocer from Brooklyn has announced plans to open its third store, this one in Cobble Hill.

Pfizer plans 95 more layoffs in Pearl River, the announcement comes after Pfizer said two weeks ago that it would lay off 200 of 2,931 employees by March 12.... Layoffs include 49 union members on March 14, 46 non-union workers on March 26.

Sommerville workers OK a new contract after a five day strike.

Price Chopper Supermarkets, is offering $54 million in cash to acquire 22 of Penn Traffic's locations, according to a filing in bankruptcy court yesterday.  Penn Traffic employees met this week to discuss bankruptcy.

King Kullen has named a new Real Estate Director.

Supermarket News reported yesterday, Ukrop’s Super Markets, the family-owned chain that became a local institution and an industry icon, is being acquired by Ahold’s Giant-Carlisle division, the chains said today. Ahold said it would pay about $140 million for 25 stores and one new location.




Ahold has also announced that changes will be gradual...The Washington Post has more.
.
Pricerite will take over an old Pathmark in Connecticut

Ontario Farm Workers take their fight to supreme court. T"hese workers are looking to the Supreme Court to tell the [Ontario] government, once and for all, that agricultural workers in Ontario have the same human rights as every other Ontario worker — including their rights, guaranteed by the [Canadian Charter of Rights of Freedoms] to join a union and bargain collectively."  Wayne Hanley, UFCW Canada President,

Wal-Mart CEO aims to dominate Online Retail, Forbes.com

Walmart's battle to build in Dallas continues. 

Politics
NYC is asking consumers to grade eatery cleanliness.

AFL-CIO Blog: House passes Jobs Bill:
By a 217-212 vote, the House passed a package that would extend unemployment insurance, aid state governments and fund important infrastructure projects. Some of these initiatives are renewals of funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which are set to expire at the end of the year.


Thompson leads Gillibrand 41-28 percent among Democrats, the Quinnipiac University survey found...Read more

NY Times: Jobless rate in NYC falls to 10%, 400,000 still need work.

MTA approves 2010 'doomsday' budget.

NY Times: Last month, 355,000 people in the city received welfare payments, a 4 percent increase over the year before, according to city officials, who predict that if the economy does not recover, the growth will continue for at least 18 months.