More than 10,000 King Soopers employees begin picketing outside select grocery stores in metro Denver

DENVER — After months of back and forth over a new contract, thousands of King Soopers employees began picketing outside of some unionized stores in the Denver metro on Thursday.

Workers in the Denver metro, Boulder, Broomfield and Parker units authorized the unfair labor practice (ULP) strike last week. They will picket at 77 King Soopers locations across the metro.

Workers in Pueblo will begin their strike at 5 a.m. on Friday.

UFCW Local 7, which represents more than 10,000 King Soopers employees across the state, anticipates the strike will last two weeks.

"We leave our job exhausted because we're running, literally running through the stores, trying to get things done, trying to handle problems," said Reyna Carpenter, a King Soopers employee in Pueblo who traveled to Denver to help with the picket. "You know, things aren't stocked, running in the back because we're constantly running back and forth because people are asking us for products add items that we haven't been able to stock on the shelves because they're sitting in the back room, because we just don't have the bodies to do it."

Franchesca Lopez, a lifelong King Sooper shopper, said she had to make a tough choice Thursday. She had to decide whether to cross the picket line at the Krameria and 14th Street King Soopers or shop across the street at Safeway.

"I've always just went to King Soopers," Lopez said. "I guess, you know, it's only fair to support them in their time of need."

King Soopers officials told Denver7 they've brought in close to 1,500 temporary workers and 150 employees from sister companies across the country to help. Joe Kelley, King Soopers and City Market president, said store hours will also be impacted.

"Instead of opening at 6 a.m. we're opening at 7 a.m., and we're closing at 8 p.m. for the time being. Our pharmacies will close at 7 p.m.," Kelley said.

The timing of the strike comes on the heels of what's typically a very busy weekend for grocery stores across the country with the Super Bowl on Sunday and Valentine's Day next week.

"There's no mistake. [UCFW Local 7 President Kim Cordova] called this strike to hurt us over Super Bowl and going into Valentine's Day — two big, big times," Kelley said.

Cordova disputed that statement during a press conference Thursday afternoon.

"Absolutely because the only thing they understand is their profit," she said.

Not all stores are impacted by the strike. A King Soopers spokesperson said the following stores will maintain regular store and pharmacy hours:

The King Soopers spokesperson said if UFCW Local 7 pulls their members from the two King Soopers stores in Pueblo Friday morning, those stores will need to be removed from the list.

In the meantime, for shoppers like Lopez, the choice of where she'll do her daily shopping is clear.

"Now I gotta go to Safeway," she said. "That's worth it, yeah, yeah, just for support. And hopefully they get what they want sooner than two weeks."

Coloradans making a difference | Denver7 featured videos

The City of Denver planned to convert a former motel into a shelter. It's now on the market for $10

Hear from Bill Masters, the longest-tenured sheriff in Colorado history, about his career and retirement

Arvada food pantry provides dignified grocery shopping experience to Coloradans in need

Few details released one day after Wednesday's federal operations in Denver metro

Questions remain following Wednesday's federal operations in Denver metro

---

Denver7 is committed to making a difference in our community by standing up for what's right, listening, lending a helping hand and following through on promises. See that work in action, in the videos above.