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.”

#DenverCO #PeoplesStruggles #strike #UFCW #Strikes #KingSoopers

Denver, CO – On Monday, January 17, grocery workers represented by UFCW Local 7 entered day six of their Unfair Labor Practices strike against King Soopers. King Soopers is a subsidiary of Kroger.

Over the weekend, the UFCW Local 7 bargaining committee had three days of intense negotiations with Kroger resulting in very little movement. “We spent the first day of negotiations listening to corporate executives scream, yell at the [union] members, and show utter disdain and disrespect for the workers – the people that make every penny of profit,” said Local 7 President Kim Cordova.

“I think things are going better on our side than theirs,” said striking worker Logan Muller, “Most customers are choosing to shop at Safeway instead – they’re making record sales over there.”

Morale on the picket line was high, with many of the workers reporting that they were glad for the fights their union waged during the financial difficulties of the COVID-19 pandemic. A source of a lot of frustration for many of the workers was the current round of King Soopers commercials airing which promote King Soopers as a high-paying and fair employer. Most of the employees called the advertisements “disgusting,” with one worker even saying “Figures, King Soopers has money for new commercials, but not better pay.”

#DenverCO #PeoplesStruggles #strike #Strikes #KingSoopers