500 workers at Dominick's get pink slips

Only weeks before Christmas, 500 Dominick's employees receivedpink slips from the grocery store chain. A Dominick's spokeswomansaid it was a belt-tightening move.

About three quarters of the chain's 113 stores will lose workers,and a store in East Chicago will be shuttered in January, said WynonaRedmond.

The workers, who make up less than 5 percent of the company's morethan 13,000 employees, were fired Thursday.

"Our staffing needs changed, and we didn't need the level ofhours," Redmond said. "It's never an easy decision. It's never a goodtime for layoffs but it's a business necessity for Dominick's andother employers which are faced with this …