Above photo: Striking workers outside a King Sooper Monaco Avenue store in Denver, Feb. 6, 2025. Viviana Weinstein.
“They could not weaken our line.”
Denver – Ten thousand striking grocery workers at 77 King Soopers stores in the Denver, Boulder and Louisville, Colorado, area returned to work on Feb. 18 for an agreed 100 days while the company and union restarted bargaining negotiations. Strike activities which workers called on Feb. 6 for two weeks will now cease while negotiations are resumed.
The company agreed to withdraw its demand that the union accept its “last best offer” and that workers would not have their health insurance cut due to not working during the 12-day strike. Employees need to work at least 80 hours in four weeks to keep their health coverage.
King Soopers went to court to prevent striking workers from using shelters, heaters and even a table. The picket line stood firm during the 12-day walkout despite snow and brutal, single-digit temperatures. Store management prevented strikers from standing near the protected overhangs and entrances to the store.
A judge ruled the workers could not stop trucks but could talk to the drivers. King Soopers hired temporary workers to keep the store operating. They went to court to prevent striking workers from working shifts for other grocery companies but the court denied the company’s request. Denver District Court Judge Sarah B. Wallace also ruled against the company in rejecting most of the restrictions that it sought in a restraining order, noting that King Soopers failed to provide evidence of disruptive or intimidating picket lines.
Despite bitter cold and company threats, the workers continued the strike, knowing the threats were just scare tactics. Community support came as drivers honked their horns to cheer the picketers and some residents walked with the strikers. “They could not weaken our line,” said Kim Cordova, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 President.
“The plan was that we were going to sell [Girl Scout cookies] over at King Soopers, but we support the workers and since they were going on strike, we support that… and now we’re here,” fifth-grader Iris Ahmed said. (9news.com, Feb. 7)
Joe Kelly, President of Kroeger-owned King Soopers, was positive that a contract could be approved before the end of the 100 days, which starts Feb. 27 and would last till the end of May. Cordova was not so confident. She affirmed that the company has serious understaffing issues and unfair labor practices, including not providing information for the union to draft proposals, delaying negotiations and not bargaining in good faith. (Denver Post, Feb. 19).