Colorado Grocery Workers Begin Strike as Tens of Thousands More Across the Country Authorize Strikes

Mei W.

On June 15 and 16, Safeway workers at five grocery stores and one distribution center in Colorado walked off the job and began unfair labor practice (ULP) strikes after their temporary contract extension with Safeway ended last week without an agreement. The workers are represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW).

According to the union, workers are striking in protest of Safeway’s and its parent company Albertsons’s refusal to address workers’ demands, threats and intimidation against unionized workers, and collusion with its competitor Kroger to bring wages down during negotiations. Kroger is also facing strikes. The union plans to expand the strike, stating that the gradual rollout is to give time for the public “to understand the problems” and for the companies to “understand the seriousness of the workers’ resolve.”

Across the country, workers at stores owned by the two grocery monopolies, Albertsons and Kroger, have been voting to authorize strikes and practicing pickets as contracts expire one after another. Earlier this month, Safeway workers in stores across 15 cities and towns in Colorado voted 99% in favor of authorizing a ULP strike, and workers at stores in 5 other towns are voting this week to authorize strikes. King Soopers workers in the state, who went on a 12-day strike in February, plan to have strike authorization votes if an agreement was not reached with the company this past Sunday. King Soopers is a subsidiary of Kroger.

45,000 workers at Ralphs, Albertsons, Vons, and Pavilions in Southern California also voted overwhelmingly to authorize ULP strikes and will be practicing pickets this week, while negotiations are scheduled to continue next week.

In Indiana, 8,000 unionized Kroger workers voted 78% in rejection of a contract proposal on May 31, while negotiations continued last week.

In Washington, 60,000 workers at Fred Meyer, QFC, Albertsons, Safeway, Haggen, and Saars voted 97% in favor of rejecting a contract proposal, authorizing a strike earlier this month. On Sunday, the UFCW union representing the workers in the Puget Sound region announced that it had reached a tentative agreement with the companies and that the “bargaining team unanimously recommends ratification of this agreement.” However, workers on social media have stated that they have yet to see the agreement, and some express uncertainty in the union’s ability to uphold their demands.

Workers at Albertsons and Kroger are demanding contracts that address understaffing, dangerous conditions, and low wages. A study published by the union reports that labor hours per store decreased by over 14% at Kroger’s subsidiary stores between 2019 to 2023, and staffing levels decreased by 13% at Albertsons’ subsidiary stores over the same period. Cutting hours and understaffing have forced workers to have to do 8 hours worth of work in 5-6 hours, according to workers interviewed in the study.

The study also found that, after adjusting for inflation, the hourly wages of Kroger and Albertsons workers decreased 5% from 2003 to 2024. Over 80% of surveyed workers reported that they are unable to pay basic living costs and over two-thirds reported to not have secure housing. According to the union’s president, the two grocery monopolies “have been holding hands […] by proposing workers take concessions on healthcare and retirement.”

Kroger and Albertsons are the second and third largest employers of grocery workers after Walmart, together employing nearly a third of all grocery workers in the US. Both monopolies have struggled with declining profitability in recent years—Kroger’s quarterly year over year net income has mostly been in the negatives, and Albertsons faced an over 25% decline in net income this year compared to 2024. The two monopolies have spent a total of $9.5 billion on stock buyouts since 2023 in order to keep their share price afloat after their failed merger that year. Albertsons CEO Vivek Sankaran announced in January that the company plans to cut $1.5 billion in costs throughout the next three years to “mitigate inflationary headwinds.” Kroger and Albertsons attempt to protect profits by driving down workers’ wages, cutting hours, and work speedups, forcing the burden of the economic crisis onto the working class.

Photo: Safeway workers on strike. Retrieved from UFCW Local 7 Facebook page.

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