UFCW local 7 King Soopers employees expected to strike January 12

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) announced Friday its members will begin to strike at 5 a.m. on January 12 and will reportedly strike for three weeks until February 2. This comes after months at the negotiating table with King Soopers.

Earlier this week, UFCW local 7 members in Denver and Colorado Springs voted overwhelmingly to strike “given the Company’s campaign of unfair labor practices”.

UFCW Local 7 filed a suit against King Soopers for breaking the current collective bargaining agreement by using third-party staffing services to hire workers in its stores.

In a press release, Kim Cordova, President of UFCW Local 7 and Vice President of UFCW International, which represents approximately 17,000 Essential Grocery workers from Kroger/King Soopers, issued the following statement:

“UFCW Local 7 members who work at King Soopers have had enough of the Company’s unfair labor practices and will strike starting January 12. This is a direct result of the Company’s bad faith at the bargaining table.

“King Soopers is enjoying record profits while leaving its workers to struggle with low wages. Grocery workers ensure that our communities have access to food, but they cannot even afford to feed their own families. This is grossly unfair. King Soopers has chosen to enrich its bottom line, instead of protecting workers who have risked their lives on the front lines.

“Our plea remains the same: Stop these unfair labor practices, and respect us, protect us and pay us what we deserve. UFCW Local 7 members will remain on strike until the company agrees to cease these unfair labor practices and comes to the negotiating table in good faith. During this strike, we ask for the support of our community. We are grateful for all the overwhelming support received and for the individuals, union partners, organizations that will be coming to Colorado to support our efforts and fight. We will continue to be relentless in the fight for our members.”