Denver, CO – On January 21, the United Food and Commercial Workers’ (UFCW) Local 7 reached a tentative agreement with Kroger subsidiary King Soopers after an all-night bargaining session. The picket lines that had been established ten days earlier went down and the strikers returned to work.

The tentative agreement reached between the union and King Soopers was ratified by the membership on Monday, January 24. According to UFCW Local 7 President Kim Cordova, the agreement contains “the most significant wage increase ever secured by a UFCW local for grocery workers.”

The agreement contains wage increases of over $5 per hour for some workers, improved healthcare, and new paths to full-time employment for part-time employees.

After the ratification vote, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders held a virtual town hall with UFCW leadership and King Soopers workers to share their experiences during the strike. “I’m glad we went out. As a worker, I’m glad that we got the strike vote and that everyone came out with me,” said Andres Becerril, a King Soopers worker and strike picket captain.

The successful conclusion of the strike represents a victory for Colorado King Soopers workers and the entire working class. With many more UFCW contracts set to expire this year, this early victory may prove to be a catalyst for other grocery workers’ strikes in 2022. As Andres Becerril noted, “Everyone that’s in a union or wants to be unionized, they’re seeing the power of a union and of a strike and the support that the rest of the world has for them, and I think it’s just going to get better.”

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