“The picket lines will remain up as the bargaining committee negotiates,” said Kim Cordova, UFCW Local 7’s president. But union leadership argues that the offer contains unfair concessions, like allowing King Soopers to hire gig workers to fill some roles The company has proposed a $170 million investment in wage increases, including a new minimum wage of $16 an hour. “We look forward to returning to the bargaining table to resume negotiations and find a deal that puts more money in our associates' paychecks.” “We are pleased that after nearly a week the union has finally responded to our request to meet,” a spokeswoman said in an email. A King Soopers spokeswoman said the company looks forward to resuming talks, which stalled earlier this month. In all, 78 King Soopers locations are currently on strike. United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 suggested negotiators meet in Denver, where workers at 14 stores have walked off the job. Workers remain on strike, however, and store services are still feeling the labor crunch. King Soopers and the union representing more than 8,000 grocery workers in the Denver metro area will head back to the bargaining table Friday. King Soopers representatives did not respond to calls or emails at press time. We expect them to sit down and to bargain in good faith," Cordova said.Ĭordova says a sticking point in the negotiations is a provision that would make any deal struck with King Soopers workers contingent upon any later deal agreed to with Albertsons or Safeway workers, even if that deal is seen as less beneficial to workers. "We have told the company that we're here. She claims new agreements offered by Kroger have eliminated worker bonuses included in earlier proposals. In a video message, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 President Kim Cordova called Saturday's negotiations unproductive and accused Kroger representatives of being unprofessional. Workers at 14 Denver-area stores walked off the job and began picketing last week. Sunday was day five of the strike between King Soopers workers and Kroger, the parent company for King Soopers. Meanwhile, negotiations continued at the Denver Marriott over the weekend. No immediate details were given as to how many deliveries or stores this would affect, or for how long. In a show of support for King Soopers workers striking for better pay and working conditions, the Teamsters refused to cross King Soopers picket lines in Denver Sunday while making deliveries to the grocery chain.
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December 2022
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