King Soopers and grocery workers end strike for 100 days as bargaining resumes  

More than 10,000 supermarket workers involved in a two-week labor walkout will return to their jobs at King Soopers stores Tuesday after the labor union and the Colorado grocery chain reached an agreement late Monday to stop picketing and get back to work. 

There’s no new contract yet, but the two sides plan to resume negotiations to work out their differences. They agreed to a “100-day period of labor peace, ensuring negotiations continue in good faith and without further disruptions,” according to King Soopers officials.

The strike ended at midnight, two days earlier than the planned two-week walkout.

“We have taken a big step forward and ensured that Kroger knows that staffing is a key concern to workers and customers alike,” said Kim Cordova, president of UFCW Local 7, in an emailed statement. “This strike was about thousands of everyday grocery store workers, collectively standing together and facing one of the largest corporations in America and saying ENOUGH. Our strike was just the beginning of this effort and elevated staffing in grocery stores to a national level with more workers and allies joining together.”

Joe Kelley, president of Kroger-owned King Soopers, called workers “the heart of King Soopers” and said the goal is to reach a “fair agreement that honors their hard work while ensuring we continue to provide fresh, affordable groceries for the families who rely on us.”

Local 7 represented the 77 Denver-area stores that went on a planned two-week strike starting Feb. 6, just before Super Bowl weekend. Two stores in Pueblo joined a day later. 

Negotiations had stalled after Jan. 16, more than a week after many Denver contracts expired. More stores were expected to join as their contracts expired Feb. 15. But the Colorado Springs stores, which had voted last month to authorize a strike, never participated.

The contentious dispute had both sides filing unfair labor practice claims against one another. Kroger-owned King Soopers also filed for a temporary restraining order to limit picketing at stores and filed a federal lawsuit against the union for forcing it to bargain with out-of-state labor unions instead of the workers themselves. A judge on Friday granted the retraining order but not completely. The judge just told union workers to not block delivery trucks or impede pedestrian traffic to stores. 

For employees, the issue was partly about money but also about staffing. Union workers said staffing shortages often resulted in long checkout lines for customers, and unstocked shelves or mispriced products that overwhelmed workers juggling customer service duties. 

But the threat of striking workers losing their health care coverage because they hadn’t worked enough hours during the week is probably what brought the union back to the table. King Soopers mentioned this on Monday.

“Securing this agreement was about restoring certainty, not just for our business, but for the people who make it possible. It also ensures that eligible associates who were unable to meet hourly requirements due to the work stoppage will continue to receive their industry-leading, affordable health care coverage, fully funded by the company to maintain continuity,” Kelley said. 

Affected King Soopers stores and their pharmacies will return to normal business operating hours Thursday. 

Kim Cordova, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers union Local 7, ready to picket on Feb. 6, 2025, the first day of the King Soopers worker strike. (Tamara Chuang, The Colorado Sun)

The return-to-work agreement also stipulated that King Soopers’ “Last, Best, and Final offer” from Jan 16 won’t be its last, according to the union. 

King Soopers offered raises to boost store clerks’ hourly wage by $4.50 over four years, with top clerks earning above $27 an hour by 2028. Adding in health care and pension benefits, that would be $29.48 an hour. The current wage is $22.68, the company said.

Not all King Soopers are unionized, including locations in Brighton, Castle Rock, Erie, Firestone and two stores in Thornton. Union stores outside of Denver remained open in Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Greeley, Longmont, Loveland and four stores in the Grand Junction area. 

This is a developing story and will be updated.