COLORADO — King Soopers and the grocery workers union will continue negotiating for at least another week to avoid a strike.
According to our news partners at The Gazette, the Colorado grocery chain operated by Kroger and United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 had a 100-day peace agreement to halt February’s strike and continuing bargaining for a new contract, with the period set to expire Wednesday night.
The two parties agreed to extend the peace period until the end of June 8, the grocer and union announced in their bargaining updates.
King Soopers, which includes City Market stores, said in a Wednesday night update that the company and the union made “promising progress” over the last two days of bargaining.
“We were able to reach tentative agreements on several contract language items,” according to King Soopers. “This important step helps clear the deck of most non-economic proposals and allows us to focus squarely on the remaining priorities needed to reach a fair and balanced agreement.”
The union said it reached an agreement with King Soopers on issues such as limiting the grocer from subcontracting curbside pickup work to Instacart gig workers, creating a sanitation and floor maintenance department in at least 20 stores over several years and letting other workers from Kroger-affiliated stores carry over seniority for benefits such as healthcare, pay and vacation time.
Still, UFCW Local 7 is calling out King Soopers for trying to implement what the union believes are concessionary proposals on economic issues such as healthcare and retirement benefits.
While any potential strike against King Soopers has been pushed back, the union is looking to take action against the grocer's competitor Safeway and Albertsons over the same issues.
The union scheduled strike votes across the state beginning this weekend, with some votes to be held next week.
“King Soopers/City Market and Safeway/Albertsons are operating like partners-in-crime to try and force these critical health care cuts on Colorado grocery workers,” according to the union’s Facebook post Wednesday night. “It is more important than ever to remain UNION STRONG.”
Earlier this week, an Albertsons spokesperson said the company is committed to productive conversations with UFCW Local 7.
“We respect the rights of workers to engage in collective bargaining and are negotiating in good faith to reach an agreement that is fair to our employees, good for our customers and allows our company to remain competitive,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
The Gazette's Bernadette Berdychowski contributed to this web story.
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