DENVER (CN) — Grocery store workers in the Denver metro area voted Monday to ratify an agreement with King Soopers that includes a $5 raise for some workers and more full time opportunities for others.
“From the beginning of this process, we promised our members that we would procure the very best contract we could,” said Kim Cordova, president of UFCW Local 7, in a statement. “We are excited that our members voted overwhelmingly to ratify this industry-leading contract that will ensure King Soopers will respect and protect essential workers as well as pay them fairly.”
Ninety-five percent of UFCW Local 7 members working at Kroger-owned King Soopers and City Market stores voted to strike this month, walking out at 5 a.m. on Jan. 12. At issue, workers said, were fair wages, work safety and respect.
The two sides split over increases in pension, allowing tips for Starbucks and grocery pickup workers, and holiday pay rates.
After nine days on the picket line, UFCW Local 7 announced its 8,000 Denver-area grocery store workers would return to work this past Friday.
According to a release from the union, King Soopers granted “the most significant wage increase ever secured by a UFCW local for grocery workers and includes first-year wage increases for long standing employees. Some workers will receive wage increases in excess of $5.00 per hour.”
Colorado's minimum wage is $12.56.
By MIT’s Living Wage Calculator, a single person needs to make at least $17.40 an hour to live in Denver. Two adults with two children who are both working need to make at least $24.81 each.
A white paper published by Economic Roundtable recommends paying Kroger workers $45,760 annually, or $22 an hour for a 40-hour work week. The report, which surveyed 10,000 workers in Washington state, Colorado and Southern California, estimated 14% of the grocery giant’s workers are homeless or were unhoused in the last year, including 9% of full-time workers.
The new three-year agreement also contains “better health care and protected pension benefits for its members, along with more stringent safety measures in the workplace to protect employees and customers.”
Because their workers are also represented by the UFCW Local 7 union, officials from Albertsons and Safeway joined King Soopers at the bargaining table.
Kroger did not respond to multiple press inquiries. In a lawsuit filed on Jan. 18, however, the grocery chain claimed the picket line was disrupting business.
A spokesperson for King Soopers said the settlement of the lawsuit is included in the agreement which remains subject to ratification from members in northern Colorado, Colorado Springs, Pueblo and Grand Junction.
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