King Soopers Employees Are Striking Across Colorado for Better Labor Conditions

Strikes and work stoppages are meant to be disruptive, and that's exactly what some Colorado shoppers are experiencing following the news that employees at many King Soopers locations across the state are on strike. The supermarket chain's union workers are currently picketing outside their locations.

As many discover that the workers are on strike and wonder whether they should cross the picket line to enter the stores anyway, they're also wondering exactly what the workers are striking for. Here's what we know.

Workers in the Denver metro, Boulder, Broomfield, and Parker locations authorized a strike in early February on the grounds that the chain was employing unfair labor practices.

UFCW Local 7 is the union representing more than 10,000 King Soopers employees in the state, and they say that the strike could last as long as two weeks. The strike comes after negotiations broke down over a new contract for employees.

"We leave our job exhausted because we're running, literally running through the stores, trying to get things done, trying to handle problems," Reyna Carpenter, a King Soopers employee in Pueblo who traveled to Denver to help with the picket, told Denver 7. She explained that the main issue with King Soopers was that their locations were understaffed, which meant that the people actually working had to do the work of several people.

"You know, things aren't stocked, running in the back because we're constantly running back and forth because people are asking us for products add items that we haven't been able to stock on the shelves because they're sitting in the back room, because we just don't have the bodies to do it," she continued.

Indeed, understaffing seems to be the principal concern of those on strike, alongside the lack of transparency from Kroger, which owns King Soopers.

"Kroger has been unlawfully refusing to provide us with information we need in order to not only respond to the company’s proposal but also to fix the critical issues of chronic understaffing in the King Soopers and Central Market stores," UFCW Local 7 President Kim Cordova said at a news conference.

The employees are also striking for higher wages and say that Kroger has refused for months to come to the negotiating table.

In speaking with 9News, King Soopers President Joe Kelly said that the claims being made by the union were unfounded.

"These unfair labor practices are unfounded by the National Labor Relations Board, that’s why they’re there. Local 7 cannot be the judge and the jury," Joe said.

"For [Cordova] to take her members, our workers, out on strike and affect their paychecks and our customers in our community? It’s reckless, quite frankly, and it's not necessary," he continued. "What she should be doing is sitting at the table and negotiating in good faith and unfortunately, she’s not doing that."

As the dispute continues to play out, a clear resolution does not seem in the offing, at least for the moment.