DENVER — Colorado Safeway employees began a limited strike at stores in Estes Park, Fountain, Pueblo, and a Denver distribution center Sunday after contract negotiations with Albertsons Companies, Inc. stalled.
UFCW Local 7 said limiting the locations for the strike in the initial days will “allow time for the public to understand the problems these workers are facing, allow Safeway/Albertsons time to understand the seriousness of the workers’ resolve, and at the same time reduce the hardship on shoppers and workers alike that result from a wide-spread strike on shoppers and workers alike.”
Picketers were seen outside the Estes Park Safeway Sunday.
The union and the Boise-based company that owns Safeway have been negotiating a new contract for the past few months, but both sides appear to have made little to no progress.
It's the first Safeway strike in Colorado in nearly three decades.
"They're not willing at all to negotiate with us. The union has been trying to get them to negotiate since October," said one picketer outside the Estes Park location.
Union leaders voted to strike after the company rejected a final offer on Friday.
In a statement to Scripps News Denver, a spokesperson for Safeway/Albertsons said the company "remains committed to productive discussions with UFCW Local 7. We respect the rights of workers to engage in collective bargaining and are negotiating in good faith to achieve an agreement. Our focus remains on providing exceptional service to our customers and fostering a positive working environment for our associates. All Safeway and Albertsons stores in Colorado are open and ready to continue serving our communities."
A UFCW statement read: “It’s too bad that things have come to this point with Safeway/Albertsons, but the ongoing unfair labor practices, including bad faith bargaining, as well as surveilling and threatening workers, have given us no choice but to strike.”
Estes Park Safeway employees told Scripps News Denver that their store is one of the busiest in the region during the summer, so the strike's impact will quickly be felt.
"[It's] what I like to consider controlled chaos. It's actually very fun. I'm able to meet lots of people from all around the world, as well as the United States, and really interact with the families and really get them into our family," said longtime Safeway cashier Graham Nelson.
Nelson told Scripps News Denver that family atmosphere is what will keep him on the picket line for as long as it takes.
In the meantime, workers on strike are focused on getting visitors up to speed on the situation, suggesting that they visit other grocery stores, such as the Country Market.
Safeway workers in other Colorado cities, including Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Greeley, Loveland, and Longmont, plan to vote on strike authorization in the coming week.
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