In the early hours of Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025, King Soopers workers across the Front Range threw down their aprons, picked up a sign and started pounding the pavement outside their stores, demanding that their employer negotiate a better contract.
The previous weekend, members of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 7, which represents roughly 10,000 workers in 77 King Soopers locations, voted to authorize a two-week strike with 96% approval. In response, King Soopers has hired a temporary staffing service to replace striking workers with scabs from out of state.
The union alleges a series of Unfair Labor Practices (ULPs) on the part of the company, including intimidation of union members, a refusal to negotiate contracts in good faith and attempts to take money from retirees’ pension funds in order to pay for wage increases. King Soopers has rejected these allegations, insisting it offered the best benefits that it could in its contract proposals to the union.
“It’s a lot on your brain,” said one picketer, alias Harris, who was tired of corporate rhetoric on the matter. “You know, [King Soopers] ‘cares about us,’ but how are you caring about us when we’re 60 and we’re out here in the cold?”
Harris, who has worked at King Soopers for 42 years, previously went on strike in 2022, hoping that would be the last major labor dispute of her career. Although that strike ended after 10 days and resulted in a better contract, Harris noted an overall decline in contract quality over her 4 decades with King Soopers.
“If you worked here after 2005 you get different benefits than if you worked here before 2005, and it’s because people were pressured into signing a contract that was shitty,” said Harris. “That’s why there’s people in there that don’t make as much money [as me]. I get double time and half on a holiday. People don’t get that anymore, because it was taken away contract to contract to contract.”
King Soopers has retaliated against the strike in the courts, filing a lawsuit against UFCW Local 7 on Feb. 7. The lawsuit alleges the union has attempted to include workers outside UFCW Local 7 in contract negotiations, violating the National Labor Relations Act. The union has called the lawsuit “frivolous,” and asserted that King Soopers had previously broken the same law by coordinating against organized labor with Safeway and Albertsons.
On Feb. 11, King Soopers filed for a temporary restraining order against the union, alleging that picketers had physically blocked patrons from entering stores. UFCW Local 7 similarly rejected this claim and promised to keep picketing.
Although the strike is focused on ULPs, workers alleged a number of other abuses from King Soopers in their day-to-day work. Several picketers alleged wage theft, explaining that King Soopers would hire workers for one position and have them do the work of another without providing a wage hike to reflect the extra labor. Another allegation was that the company had attempted to remove department managers from the union. Most picketers also agreed that their wages were not high enough for them to earn a living, and that much of their earnings went back to King Soopers to pay for groceries.
Still, the mood on the picket was high on day one of the strike.
“The morale out here is better than I’ve seen it in months,” said one picketer, alias Quayle. “Especially on my shift, the evening shift, because we’re always run so short-staffed and stressed out and scrambling, trying to do two or three people’s jobs at once.” Quayle felt confident that King Soopers would come to the negotiating table again, chanting, “Wage up, staff up!”
Strikers also enjoyed support from the public, cheering as passing cars honked in solidarity. Although some patrons were still entering the store, many picketers agreed that business was far slower than usual. One local resident, a cannabis entrepreneur who typically frequented King Soopers, happily chose to shop elsewhere.
“I have two legs that work, and every day is a gift from God,” said the resident. “Every breath is a blessing. You can walk your ass a few blocks over.”
As the King Soopers strike is still ongoing, UFCW Local 7 has asked Colorado residents to shop at other stores for groceries and prescription medications. These stores include Safeway, Sprouts, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s. The union has also set up a hardship fund for striking workers who are not receiving their paychecks while on the picket line.
