DENVER — The union representing 7,000 Safeway/Albertsons employees in Colorado said Monday that its workers could be on strike as soon as Sunday after months of negotiations over a new collective bargaining agreement have gone nowhere.
Safeway and the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 union will meet Wednesday in an effort to reach an agreement on wages, staffing levels and benefits. If those efforts fail, the union would give 72 hours’ notice of a strike.
Complicating matters for shoppers, there is a chance that workers at King Soopers stores will also be on strike again soon. A previous strike ended in February with an agreement to continue negotiations over a 100-day period. That period expired Sunday night with no agreement reached.
A spokesperson for King Soopers told Denver7 on Friday that they were eager to negotiate over the weekend. Denver7 asked for a follow up statement on Monday but received no response.
Union representatives are assessing how simultaneous strikes at both grocery chains could affect customers. UFCW Local 7 President Kim Cordova said they don’t want to hurt the customers they’ve been fighting for.
"A lot of our fight, most of our fight, is around creating better stores for the consumer to shop in," Cordova said.
Cordova said the union is advocating for better staffing, which would improve the shopping experience for customers. She also said Safeway is asking to reduce workers' health benefits and retirement funds, concessions that the union will continue to reject.
On Monday, Safeway reiterated their commitment to collective bargaining, stating, "We are negotiating in good faith to achieve an agreement."
Cordova said that while the union will work to minimize disruptions for consumers, simultaneous strikes remain a possibility. As of Monday, no date has been set for negotiations to resume with King Soopers.
