Six days into a strike against King Soopers in the Denver area and Pueblo, the company and the union appeared to be at a standstill, with both sides filing unfair labor practice complaints and sending a roundabout of emails. The supermarket chain has filed a lawsuit and is seeking a temporary restraining order against picketers.
“That’s probably a fair statement,” King Soopers President Joe Kelley said Tuesday when told the labor dispute looks like it’s at an impasse.
Kim Cordova, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, said union officials were headed to court Tuesday afternoon after King Soopers, owned by Cincinnati-based Kroger, sought a temporary restraining order against picketers.
“The company is asking a court to stop striking workers from doing what striking workers do: Picketing in front of their workplaces and speaking with one voice, a voice that the company is currently stifling by refusing to negotiate in good faith,” UFCW Local 7 said in a statement.
A temporary restraining order granted by Denver District Court during a 2022 strike against King Soopers limited the number of picketers in front of stores and prohibited strikers from obstructing customers’ entry to stores.
In the latest case, King Soopers said actions during picketing have created unspecified unsafe conditions. “To protect the well-being of everyone, we are seeking a temporary restraining order to help ensure our stores remain safe,” the company said in a statement.
King Soopers filed a lawsuit last week in U.S. District Court that accuses UFCW Local 7 of unlawfully forcing the company to bargain with labor unions from Washington and California. Kelley said in a statement that workers deserve a union that puts them first, “not one that prioritizes a strategy orchestrated by out-of-state special interests.”
The union said King Soopers has invited Albertsons/Safeway representatives to attend the bargaining sessions and denied that it forced the company to negotiate with any other union. UFCW Local 7, which represents employees in Colorado and Wyoming, is in negotiations with Albertsons, which owns Safeway.
In an interview, Kelley said Cordova hasn’t responded to King Soopers’ “last, best, final” contract offer.
“She has not suggested going back to the table,” Kelley said. “We’ve told her we’re willing to go back to the table this morning, tonight, tomorrow.”
Cordova said she contacted King Soopers’ lead negotiator last week after not hearing from him. She shared an email she sent to Ian Adams, senior director of labor relations, that asked him to let her know if the company “is requesting to return to the negotiating table.”
Adams’ reply said King Soopers is still waiting for Cordova’s response to the contract offer. “We are willing to meet and discuss if you have questions on our (last, best, final offer) but, having received none over the last three weeks, we continue to ask you to give your members a chance to vote on our offer.”
The union negotiators’ response to the company’s offer was to pass. After the contracts with the company expired Jan. 17, the bargaining committee, made up of employees, asked union members in metro Denver, Colorado Springs and Pueblo to authorize a strike. Members gave their approval.
About 10,000 workers started a two-week strike Feb. 7 in Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson counties and in Boulder and Louisville. Workers at two King Soopers stores in Pueblo joined the strike a day later.
Cordova has said the union might schedule strike votes with members in Longmont, Loveland and Fort Collins when their contracts expire and with workers at City Market, also owned by Kroger.
The union has filed unfair labor practice complaints with the National Labor Relations Board, claiming the company has illegally interrogated union members about bargaining; surveilled members in discussions with union staff; and hasn’t provided information they need to make or consider contract proposals.
Complaints that King Soopers has submitted to the NLRB include accusing the union of delaying negotiations, not bargaining in good faith and engaging in unlawful threats of physical harm through social media.
“A comprehensive offer was given to (Cordova) Dec. 4,” Kelley said. “Kim made the decision, not the bargaining committee, not to present that offer to her members.”
Kelley added that Cordova didn’t offer proposals on wages and increased staffing levels as she had promised.
Cordova said the bargaining committee, made up of King Soopers employees, chose not to put the contract offer to a vote. “We are a member-driven union.”
She added that the company hasn’t provided the data the union needs for a proposal on staffing.
King Soopers rejected several proposals by the union, Cordova said. What King Soopers calls its “last, best, final offer” is unlawful because it includes provisions not allowed in a final offer, she said. The union is also concerned about health care proposals.
Kelley said there’s room for further negotiations even though King Soopers had made its final offer, which includes $180 million in wage increases over four years.
“All the money’s on the table,” Kelley said. “But money can be moved around. We can talk about safety. We can talk about staffing, about verbiage. We can talk about anything we want.”
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