The union representing thousands of King Soopers and City Market employees in Colorado is inching closer to calling a strike as plans take shape for a new round of negotiations this weekend.þþIn an interview with KUNC, Kim Cordova, president of United Commercial Food Workers Local 7, said the move to strike is now “very possible.”þþþ“If (the company) just comes to the table again without trying to seek any type of progress then, yes, the possibility is there and it will happen sooner than later,” Cordova said.þþThe union’s Denver unit voted overwhelmingly last week to authorize a walk-out if leadership makes the call.þþWhile the company maintains its current offer to employees provides adequate pay increases, a stable pension and no increases in healthcare costs, UCFW Local 7 says it lacks long-term commitments to sustain many of those benefits. KUNC has not been able to review a copy of the company’s current offer.þþAdam Williamson, a spokesman for King Soopers, said the goal this weekend — should negotiations take place — is to come together, have a conversation around the proposal and come to a final agreement.þþ“It comes down to no one wins in a strike, right?” Williamson said. “I mean, when I say no one, it's our associates. It's the customers. It's the community. It's not just the stores.”þþCordova, who also bargained contracts with the company in 2011 and 2015, said the back-and-forth this year has been significantly different from past negotiations. For example, she said, Kroger brought in a lawyer from California instead of having local leadership at the table.þþ“Really what I see is that it's really no longer the King Soopers we once knew,” she said. “This is Kroger now.”þþKing Soopers operates 159 stores in Colorado and is headquartered in Denver. Grocery giant Kroger bought the chain in 1983.þþWilliamson said the company has shared a copy of the current offer with store management teams so they can share it directly with individual associates.þþ“As our associates get to know every detail within the contract — it’s making sure that they understand the ins and outs and every detail because it is complicated,” he said. “As they get to know the details I think there will be less frustration.”
Source: kunc.org
