Workers for Colorado supermarket chain King Soopers have approved a strike over what their union has described as unfair labor practices by the retailer.
The times, dates and locations for the planned labor action have yet to be determined and will be announced to workers and the public ahead of strike activity, according to United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, which represents employees at the Kroger-owned grocer.
The vast majority of King Soopers workers in multiple parts of Colorado authorized a strike in elections the union held over the past few days, according to UFCW Local 7. Workers in Pueblo and Colorado Springs, Colorado, voted on Friday and Saturday, following elections in the Boulder, Broomfield, Denver and Parker areas earlier last week.
The workers’ decision to strike comes after UFCW Local 7’s contract with King Soopers expired on Jan. 16. The union said that the expiration of the contract, which had been set to expire on Jan. 5 but was extended, meant that the no-strike provision that was part of the agreement was no longer in force.
UFCW Local 7 has filed multiple unfair labor practice charges against King Soopers in recent months that reflect concerns including what it said were “illegal intimidation” by the retailer as well as its “failure to provide needed information on staffing to allow for the union to prepare a comprehensive proposal to resolve the staffing crisis in King Soopers’ stores,” UFCW Local 7 President Kim Cordova said in a Jan. 30 statement.
UFCW Local 7 said in a Jan. 15 statement that it had been unable to come to an agreement with Kroger over issues including inadequate staffing in stores, which the union said had led to problems including empty shelves, poor customer services, and closed delis, meat departments and pharmacies. The union added that Kroger had offered wages that were “far too low to live in Colorado.”
The pending labor action comes more than two years after King Soopers workers staged a 10-day strike that led to charges by the Colorado attorney general that rival Albertsons illegally agreed not to hire King Soopers employees during the walkout. Kroger and Albertsons are facing a class-action lawsuit claiming that unionized workers for the grocers were hurt financially because their alleged collusion caused UFCW 7 to settle for lower wage scales in Colorado.
