Supermarket facing strike threat Cape Cod Online

Supermarket facing strike threat Cape Cod Online

By Sarah Shemkus
sshemkus@capecodonline.com
February 13, 2010

The Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. and its unionized employees are heading for a showdown.

The current contract between the supermarket chain and the 43,000 southern New England members of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, or UFCW, is set to expire Feb. 20. And, unsatisfied with the demands being made by the company during negotiations, union organizers are planning a strike vote for Feb. 21.

Stop & Shop, meanwhile, has been advertising for temporary workers to fill positions in case of a work stoppage, a move that union representatives say is merely for show.

"It's just bad theater," said James Riley, secretary-treasurer of the union's Local 328, which represents workers in Rhode Island and on Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. "After two negotiation sessions, to put ads all over New England advertising for part-time, temporary help is a slap in the face to all of their people who work for them."

At issue in the current contract negotiations, Riley said, are three major points: health benefits, pensions and wage increases.

"They want to put more of a burden on the workers" for health benefits, he said. And "they don't want to fund the pension fund in a way that would continue to be fruitful for the employees."

The company also wants to replace wage increases with a bonus system, Riley said.

"We don't like bonuses, we like general wage increases," he said.

Stop & Shop did not return calls for comment yesterday.

The chain has 12 locations on Cape Cod, three on Martha's Vineyard and one on Nantucket.

The union negotiates a new contract with Stop & Shop every three years, Riley said. The current round of negotiations began in mid-January, he said.

On Feb. 1, Stop & Shop began accepting applications for temporary workers. The positions "would occur in the event there is a strike or lockout because of a labor dispute," according to ads that have run in the Cape Cod Times.

The ads list wages of $12 per hour for part-time workers and $15 per hour for full-time positions. Current part-time workers can earn anything from $9 to $16 per hour, Riley said.

For the store to offer temporary workers starting wages higher than those earned by many existing employees is "insulting," he said, particularly considering the business' financial strength.

Stop & Shop and its sister chain — the Giant supermarkets in the mid-Atlantic states — had a strong financial performance in 2009, according to information released by their Amsterdam-based parent company, Ahold.

Together, the two chains saw net sales increase by 4.6 percent, to $17.9 billion last year, compared with 2008.

Employee unions are common in most major supermarket chains, said Mike Berger, senior editor of the Griffin Report of Food Marketing, a food industry trade publication based in Duxbury.

The current contentious negotiations between Stop & Shop and the UFCW are not surprising, he said.

"I've seen this before and no doubt I will see this again," Berger said. "And with a depressed economy, you're going to see this a lot more."

Nonetheless, he thinks it likely that the two sides will work out a deal in advance of the Feb. 21 strike vote.

"You're going to see a lot of posturing," he said. "But if the two sides want to settle, this will get done, probably as the deadline approaches

Fw: [FVWRETAIL] National Fruit and Vegetable Retail Report

------Original Message------
From: FVWRETAIL
To: FVWRETAIL
Subject: [FVWRETAIL] National Fruit and Vegetable Retail Report
Sent: Feb 12, 2010 12:27 PM

The most recent National Fruit and Vegetable Retail Report is available in PDF format.
You are able to view the published market report at:
http://search.ams.usda.gov/mndms/2010/02/FV20100212WRETAIL.pdf

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Del Monte Cultivating Vending Machines? SlashFood

Del Monte Cultivating Vending Machines? SlashFood


There's been an unexpected spike in vending-machine news this month (yes, Slashfood counts two noteworthy changes in that industry as a "spike" ). Last week it was about touch-screen technology on the outside, now it's about the snacks contained inside.

College students at Notre Dame have another weapon in fending off the notorious "freshman fifteen": Del Monte fresh fruit and vegetables are currently available in vending machines all over campus, offering a healthier alternative to the usual corn-syrup and salt-laden options. The machines will also be introduced at The University of Miami and Miami-Dade College.

The snack packs -- which are specially packaged to ensure you don't bite into a limp veggie or soggy piece of fruit -- include bananas, pineapple chunks, apple slices, grapes, baby carrots, celery and tomatoes (and some include low-fat dips as well). All of them are 120 calories or less.

"We are excited about the launch of Del Monte Fresh Produce Company's fresh fruit and vegetable vending line at Notre Dame," said Dennis Christou, Vice President of Marketing, N.A. at Fresh Del Monte to Slashfood. "With the rates of obesity among children and adults rising, and the increasing emphasis on the benefits of fresh fruits and vegetables, it is important to give consumers healthier options in as many venues as possible."

As Retail Sales Climb, Consumers Stay Glum - WSJ

As Retail Sales Climb, Consumers Stay Glum - WSJ

By SARA MURRAY

Retail sales rose in January as consumers bought more electronics and appliances, but a separate consumer-sentiment index fell in February, highlighting the mixed signals coming from the economy.

The revival of consumer spending is a key to a broad economic recovery, because consumer spending accounts for about two-thirds of all demand in the economy.

The Commerce Department said Friday that retail sales climbed a moderate 0.5% in January from December to a seasonally adjusted $355.8 billion. The government also revised upward the December number, noting that sales fell 0.1%, less than the 0.3% decline reported previously.

"Retail sales did pick up fairly nicely in January, and that certainly is a good story," said Millan Mulraine, a TD Securities analyst. "Clearly, we are not at the point where we believe consumer spending will drive the U.S. economic recovery…but we do think at some point down the road that's likely to be the case."

Consumers are still feeling the sting of job losses and the difficulty getting access to credit, which fueled much of household spending during the boom a few years ago. But recent easing in job losses and improving credit conditions have helped Americans feel slightly more comfortable about spending, even though they remain cautious. Economists are hoping those incremental improvements will equate to stronger consumer spending in the first quarter.

The monthly retail sales numbers aren't adjusted for inflation. Economists' primary gauge of U.S. consumer spending—known as personal consumption expenditures—rose at an inflation-adjusted 2% annual rate in the fourth quarter. Based on the new data, economists at IHS Global Insight predicted consumer spending would grow at an inflation-adjusted 2.6% annual rate in the current quarter.

The increase in consumer spending touched most parts of the economy, except autos, where spending was flat. Excluding autos, sales rose 0.6% last month. "Core" retail sales, which strip out spending on autos, gasoline and building materials, climbed 0.8%. Electronics, appliance, general-merchandise, food and beverage stores, as well as non-store retailers, all experienced an increase in sales. Meanwhile, sales fell at home-furnishing and building-materials stores.

Consumers were likely lifted last month by fewer job losses and a slight boost to their incomes. The economy shed 20,000 jobs in January, and the unemployment rate dropped to 9.7%, the Labor Department said. The average workweek and weekly earnings also rose.

One way to gauge the weakness of this recovery is that economic indicators are still sending contradictory signals. Case in point: The University of Michigan/Reuters preliminary consumer-sentiment index fell in February, an indication that there are still bumps on the road to a consumer recovery. The index dropped to 73.7 from 74.4 in January, as Americans' expectations for the economy's future performance became more pessimistic. But it's not likely to be a permanent drop, analysts said.

"The damage has likely been done by the drop in stock prices, to which the index is quite sensitive, though usually with a short lag," said Ian Shepherdson, an economist for High Frequency Economics Ltd.

The portion of the index that reflects consumers' feelings on current economic conditions rose to 84.1 from 81.1 in January. But the gauge of where the economy is headed dropped to 66.9 from 70.1.