King Soopers Grocery Workers Vote to Authorize Strike
Following two days of meetings, unionized grocery store workers at Kroger-owned King Soopers voted overwhelmingly to authorize UFCW Local 7 leadership to call an unfair labor practice. Negotiations between the two sides began last October. The exact times, dates and locations of the strikes will be determined later and made public before any strike occurs.
The vote meetings held this past Wednesday and Thursday were for workers in the metro Denver, Boulder, Parker and Broomfield, Colo., bargaining units. Ninety-five percent of workers in the Denver Meat Bargaining Unit voted to strike, while 96% of workers in the Denver Retail Bargaining Unit voted to strike. Votes are also slated for workers in Colorado Springs and Pueblo, Colo., on Friday and Saturday, which could authorize strikes in other locations.
“There are multiple unfair labor practice charges we have filed against King Soopers over the last several months,” said Kim Cordova, president of UFCW Local 7, which has offices in Colorado Springs, Cheyenne, Wheat Ridge, Grand Junction, Greeley and Pueblo. “These range from illegal intimidation of workers by the employer to the employer’s 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. Kroger negotiators have illegally insisted on robbing retiree health care benefits to fund wage increases for workers today. Sadly, this company’s targeting of fixed-income retirees and other vulnerable populations only compounds its history of targeting consumers with predatory pricing.”
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A deli clerk who has worked for King Soopers for seven years noted that store staffing “is at an unsustainable level,” with associates “asked to do the job of two or three people, leading to bare shelves and long lines.”
A Kroger spokeswoman contacted by Progressive Grocer for comment noted: “While disappointed by the outcome of Local 7 obtaining strike authorization, King Soopers remains committed to its primary focus of increasing associates’ paychecks while keeping groceries affordable for customers.
“The National Labor Relations Board has not determined King Soopers has committed an unfair labor practice during these negotiations. The company holds itself to the highest ethical standard and is confident that the union’s allegations of unfair labor practices are unfounded. Additionally, the company believes that the union’s move to seek a strike vote authorization is premature, given they have not allowed associates to vote on the company’s Last, Best and Final Offer. The offer includes significant wages investments, along with industry-leading health care and a secure pension.”
Further, King Soopers has pledged to keep its stores open in the event of a strike.
“While we respect our associates’ rights to participate in a work stoppage, any associate who chooses to continue to work is welcome,” said King Soopers President Joe Kelley. “We believe our associates would be better served if the union worked with us to reach an agreement that would not risk leaving our associates without a paycheck. We remain open to continuing to meet with the Union to reach a resolution.”
The largest union in Colorado, UFCW Local 7 represents 23,000 grocery store workers across Colorado. Twelve thousand of those workers are employed at King Soopers and City Market stores. Local 7 is affiliated with Washington, D.C.-based United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which represents more than 1.3 million workers in the United States and Canada, making it one of the largest private-sector unions in North America.
The Kroger Family of Companies’ nearly 420,000 associates serve more than 11 million customers daily through a digital shopping experience and retail food stores under a variety of banner names. The Cincinnati-based grocer is No. 4 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2024 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also named Kroger one of its Retailers of the Century.
