United We Bargain, United We’ll Win! 12,000 Member Strike Ends in Victory for Bargaining Big
In a win for contract unity and big bargaining, the twelve-day strike against King Soopers (Kroger) has resulted in a return to the bargaining table with a 100 day extension. After nearly two weeks of 12,000 King Soopers workers shutting down 77 stores across Colorado with UFCW Local 7, workers have won the battle — and now, it’s time to win the war.
Contracts for nearly 50,000 grocery workers in Southern California are expiring in less than two weeks on March 2, 2025. Just a few weeks later, more contracts expire in Washington State, Northern California, Georgia, New Mexico and more. That means bigger bargaining power and better contracts for workers, together.
What does the 100 days mean?
In a press release shared late on Monday, February 19, UFCW Local 7 announced that they reached an agreement with King Soopers (Kroger) to return to the bargaining table. The agreement includes that Kroger can’t implement an offer for at least 100 days, during which the company agrees to a no-lockout clause that ensures workers’ jobs are protected.
What does the 100 days mean? It means Kroger can’t try to push through a sub-par contract. Instead, the bargaining committee can develop a proposal on fair staffing, and the company is withdrawing its so-called “Last, Best, and Final” offer.
Most importantly, it means Colorado contracts are lining up with other major grocery contract expirations across the country to boost bargaining power. We saw how scared the company got when 12,000 workers were on strike — filing bogus lawsuits and restraining orders, hiring Pinkertons, taking away heaters from picket lines to freeze out the picketers. Now imagine how afraid the company will be when over 130,000 workers are bargaining their contracts all at once. That’s what the 100 days can do.
What is contract alignment, or coordinated bargaining?
Contract alignment is also known as coordinated bargaining — or as we like to call it, bargaining big. Coordinated bargaining increases workers’ power to win by getting rank and file members across different locals, or even across different unions, to take action together.
It’s how other union members have won big. When 340,000 UPS Teamsters fought for their national contract in 2023, they leveraged the largest strike threat against a single employer in US history, and it paid off big time. When 150,000 UAW members struck the Big Three automakers that same year, they ended two-tier and won up to 88% wage increases.
When we bargain big, we win big. UFCW grocery workers are next up, and this contract alignment has allowed Colorado workers to lead the charge for better staffing, better wages, and better stores.
Why is coordinated bargaining the Big Grocers’ biggest fear?
The Big Grocers know about strength in numbers. That’s why they spent nearly a billion dollars on the failed Kroger and Albertsons merger — and why Kroger and Albertsons illegally collaborated during contract bargaining in 2022.
We saw how much the Big Grocers don’t want coordinated bargaining. In fact, Kroger was so scared, they filed a completely farcical lawsuit attempting to shut down coordinated bargaining. It won’t work.
Solidarity isn’t against the law. In their fight against unfair labor practices, Colorado workers advanced the fight for over 130,000 other grocery workers across the country, too. In their heroic strike, members of UFCW Local 7 showed the company what worker power truly looks like. Colorado workers won for themselves, and they won for over 100,000 other workers nationwide. Strikes and solidarity work.
One Union. One Contract. Our Power!
What’s next?
Join EW4D for a meeting and workshop on Sunday, March 23rd from 1-3 PM in Denver, CO. We’ll discuss the strike and what happens next, including proven strategies for building solidarity and union power at work. Click here to RSVP.
