Colorado grocery strike begins as King Soopers workers demand better pay
The start of a two-week-long strike by thousands of Front Range King Soopers workers in Colorado meant people on the picket lines outside of stores and shoppers either choosing to cross the lines or avoiding King Soopers in favor of other grocery stores.
"I'm about to go across the street now," said Ashley Anderson, a mom with her two children at the King Soopers at East 14th Avenue and Krameria Street, across from a Safeway.
Lorna Hutchinson was shopping at Safeway on Thursday, although King Soopers is her usual spot.
"It's also just kind of a collective solidarity," she said. "It's important." The Safeway parking lot was busy while the King Soopers lot was sparsely populated with cars.
But not all customers are staying away. The seafood counter was unstaffed in the afternoon at the King Soopers in Glendale, but shelves were still stocked.
"I think they're offering enough money," said shopper Charlie Kirchhoff, who wished everybody well.
"It's not King Soopers' fault that cost of living's so high in Denver," shopper Rodney Soendker said. "There's certain jobs that can't make a certain amount of money. A cashier can't make $30 an hour. A produce clerk can't make $30 an hour."
The wage increase offer would boost salaries for top-tier workers by $4.50 over four years, putting them with combined pay and benefits at over $29 an hour. But most workers will still make less.
"You do have to stand up for what you believe in," said Bellarose Moorse, who works in the floral area at the store on 14th and Krameria. "Sometimes in my department, it's just me by myself," she said, concerned about Valentine's Day coming up.
Stocker Abdarahmane Gaye works overnights. He likes the work but is concerned about getting things done: "10 at night and 6:30 in the morning or 7-something. There's a lot of load, there's not enough people."
The company maintains it has more staff and continues to hire more.
"We staff our stores and we have over 4,000 more people than we had before COVID," King Soopers President Joe Kelley told CBS News Colorado.
The union has a long list of grievances, including ending contributions to a retirement health plan, and notes that parent company Kroger initiated a $7.5 billion share buyback program after a judge recently blocked its takeover of the Albertsons grocery chain. Kelley says the claim that money is being shifted from a retirement health program to employees' wages is untrue, but the union disputes that.
The strike could go two weeks and workers at stores in Pueblo will join it on Friday. Additional workers may vote to strike in Loveland, Fort Collins, and Longmont when their contracts end in the middle of the month.
