Dive Brief:
- United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 is accusing King Soopers of acting in “bad faith” and violating the 100-day stand-down agreement the two sides agreed to following a nearly two-week strike earlier this year.
- The Kroger-owned banner set an arbitrary date for an offer that expired before the stand-down’s scheduled expiration at the end of May, UFCW Local 7 said in papers it filed Thursday in response to a lawsuit filed by King Soopers in February.
- As a result of Kroger’s actions, the union and its members have suffered damages including potential lost wages and benefits for workers, according to the counterclaim.
Dive Insight:
When UFCW Local 7 and representatives for the grocery chain met in mid-March, King Soopers proposed two nearly identical offers, “Offer A” and “Offer B”. “Offer A,” which offered greater wage increases for some workers, would expire if not ratified by April 12 — a date that would fall before a scheduled negotiating session in mid-April and be more than a month ahead of the stand-down’s expiration, the union claims.
When April 12 passed without an agreement, King Soopers withdrew its earlier offer and “instead made clear that it would only offer a new, more concessionary proposal,” according to the counterclaim.
“By setting an arbitrary deadline and unilaterally implementing a change in its proposals on this arbitrary date, King Soopers has frustrated the bargaining process in contradiction of its promise not to engage in such actions through the 100-day period in the Agreement,” UFCW Local 7 said in the filing.
King Soopers did not respond by press time to a request for comment.
The counterclaim comes two months after King Soopers sued UFCW Local 7 for allegedly trying to force the grocer into unlawful multi-union bargaining in the fall and violating the National Labor Relations Act with a “continuing pattern of threatening, coercive, and restraining actions.” UFCW Local 7 has called the lawsuit “baseless” and denied the allegations that it forced the grocer to bargain with other union locals.
In early April, UFCW Local 7 asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado to dismiss King Soopers’ suit.
The legal battle follows unsuccessful collective bargaining negotiations for new contracts and a nearly two-week strike covering approximately 10,000 unionized workers across nearly 80 King Soopers stores in Colorado in early February. UFCW Local 7 represents approximately 11,000 King Soopers and City Market workers.
King Soopers and the union ended the strike with an agreement to keep bargaining and negotiate in good faith, with the union agreeing it would not take any more strike actions for 100 days and King Soopers agreeing not to unilaterally implement any changes in the contract.
“We agreed to end the strike and return to work and have labor peace for 100 days. The employer’s side of that agreement was that they would not implement any new terms without our agreement, lock-out workers, and would negotiate in good faith. They have failed in that commitment,” UFCW Local 7 President Kim Cordova said in a statement.
Cordova said King Soopers violated the good faith bargaining process by giving the union “an ultimatum.” The union claims King Soopers needs to address issues such as staffing, safety, raises and benefits, Cordova added.
