Thousands of grocery workers started walking the picket lines at King Soopers stores from Boulder to Parker early Wednesday morning, a day after the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 rejected the company’s latest contract offer.
The strike is being called on claims of unfair labor practices and is expected to last three weeks. The union Tuesday rejected what King Soopers called its “last, best” offer that included $170 million for wage increases and health care benefits as well as bonuses ranging from $2,000 to $4,000 for ratification of the contract.
“Our original offer on the table was $148 million in wage increases. We raised that to $170 million this morning, which is the largest wage increase in the history of King Soopers and City Market,” Joe Kelley, president of Kroger-owned King Soopers and City Market, said Tuesday.
About 15 people were on the picket line early Wednesday morning at a King Soopers store on South Colorado Boulevard in Denver. Several cars drove into the parking lot, slowed down and gave a thumbs up or honked when the drivers saw the picket signs and drove away.
Keri Noden, a 31-year King Soopers employee, said business was slow for a typical weekday.
“The parking lot is usually much more full,” Noden said as she stood outside with fellow union members.
Inside, there were a handful of shoppers and some workers were standing and talking to each other. As the morning went on, business did pick up.
Some people weren’t persuaded to support the strike and shop elsewhere. A man who wouldn’t give his name told employee Paul Hoffmaster that if King Soopers raises wages, the money will come out of his pocket.
Hoffmaster, who has worked for King Soopers for five years, said for him the strike is about more than money. He said he’s concerned about proposals to reduce leave time and other benefits.
“They say on the news they’re going to give us investments in 401K and all that,” Hoffmaster said. “They tell you what we’re going to get. They don’t tell you what you’re going to give up.”
Noden took part in the last strike against King Soopers in 1996. She said working during the pandemic has been stressful and that the company provided security guards early during the COVID-19 outbreak, but, along with “hazard” pay, pulled the guards after a couple of months.
Noden said she expects many regular customers to support the striking workers and not cross the picket lines.
“A lot of my customers said yesterday, ‘Keri, we’re not crossing,’ ” she said. “My dad’s a retired Denver sheriff. He won’t even cross.”
Joshua Haymore, a five-year King Soopers worker, said he is on the picket line to help “put up a fair fight.”
Of other shoppers entering the store, one woman was critical of what she said was the lack of mask wearing by staff members early in the pandemic, so she didn’t feel obligated to support them. And another was unaware of the strike and planned to shop elsewhere next time.
Union members had flyers they would hand to customers entering the store that suggested alternative places to shop, such as Safeway and Sprouts.
Kelley, president of King Soopers/City Market, said Tuesday that the union should allow its members to vote on the company’s latest contract offer. Haymore said the union has rejected the proposal.
“We have a member-led bargaining committee of over 70 King Soopers employees who decide what we vote on and they decided the offer on the table isn’t any good,” Haymore said.
RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post
Debbie Espinoza’s glasses fog up in the cold morning air as she strikes outside the King Soopers where she works, at 825 S. Colorado Blvd., on Jan. 12, 2022 in Denver. Espinoza started working for Kroger in 1972.
Kelley said union negotiators haven’t been willing to bargain since they rejected an offer last week.
Kim Cordova, UFCW Local 7 president, said the union is willing to resume talks, but King Soopers hasn’t provided information it needs on wages, pensions, health care and other items to evaluate the proposal despite repeated requests for the data.
And King Soopers’ latest offer contained unacceptable provisions, Cordova added, including the addition of gig workers ; restrictions on workers’ ability to work overtime; and shortening the time for workers who are on leave of absence or injured.
“Clearly, King Soopers/City Market will not voluntarily meet the needs of our workers, despite our repeated pleas for the Company to listen to the voices of our members,” Cordova said in a statement.
Members of the @UFCW_7 are on the picket lines at a King Soopers store on South Colorado Boulevard. Thousands of workers from Boulder to Parker started at5 a.m. this morning after talks with King Soopers failed to reach an agreement. pic.twitter.com/ndNWz3lSiY
— Judith Kohler (@JudithKohler) January 12, 2022
The union filed a federal lawsuit against King Soopers in late December, accusing the company of unfair labor practices. King Soopers filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board Tuesday accusing the union of the same thing.
The strike will affect the King Soopers stores where the union’s contracts expired Jan. 8. The stores are in the following cities: Denver, Arvada, Aurora, Boulder, Broomfield, Centennial, Commerce City, Edgewater, Englewood, Evergreen, Federal Heights, Glendale, Golden, Greenwood Village, Highlands Ranch, Lakewood, Littleton, Louisville, Thornton, Westminster and Wheat Ridge.
The union’s contracts with other King Soopers and City Market stores expire later in January and in February. The union is still negotiating with Albertsons, which owns Albertsons and Safeway stores in the state.
King Soopers has been advertising for temporary replacement workers, and the company announced Wednesday morning that its stores will remain open through the strike.
Cordova said union members from across the country are expected to come to Colorado to support the striking workers.
The last strike by grocery workers in Colorado was in 1996. Union members at King Soopers walked off the job and Safeway and Albertsons eventually locked out union members. The strike lasted 42 days.