United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 7 is continuing a battle between Safeway and King Soopers in Colorado.
Friday and Saturday night, union members at Safeway stores in Pueblo, Fountain and other parts of Colorado are scheduled to take part in a strike vote. If approved, the union has to give a 72-hour notice before striking, meaning one could occur as early as next week.
Back in February, Union Members for Local 7 at King Soopers stores across the state took part in a strike. King Soopers and Local 7 agreed to a 100-day "stand down," as that time period expired this week, the two entities agreed to extend it to June 8.
At the heart of both battles is pay, benefits and staffing.
"The company continues to really try to squeeze workers," Local 7 President Kim Cordova told News5 this week when talking about King Soopers. "They continue to fail to address the chronic understaffing in the stores."
Cordova added that some progress with King Soopers has been made. This week, Local 7 highlighted several agreements with King Soopers that include:
-An agreement to protect curbside pickup work
-An agreement to add a sanitation and floor maintenance department to at least 20 stores
-An External Company Credit that will allow workers who transfer in from other Kroger-affiliated stores non-competitive seniority.
-Narrowing negotiations on healthcare, wages, staffing, pension vacation and "other key economic" items.
Local 7 also claims King Soopers is offering insufficient wage increases and is lowering pay by eliminating daily overtime.
News5 reached out to King Soopers for comment Thursday morning and has yet to hear back, but we have talked with the President of King Soopers and City Market on the topic before.
“Our focus remains on reaching a fair agreement that honors their hard work while ensuring we continue to provide fresh, affordable groceries for the families who rely on us," King Soopers President Joe Kelley said of King Soopers employees back in February. "We appreciate their dedication and look forward to productive discussions."
Local 7 is calling for similar changes at Safeway.
"Our members are part of the community that these grocers serve, and their stakeholders in their jobs, and they want to see better stores for their customers," Cordova said of the potential strike.
A spokesperson for the Safeway Denver Division sent the following statement to News5 about the possibility of a strike:
"At Albertsons Companies, we are 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 reach an agreement that is fair to our employees, good for our customers and allows our company to remain competitive."
As of Friday morning, it wasn't clear if Safeway locations in Colorado Springs that are part of Local 7 would take part in a strike vote meeting.
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