Colo. Safeway Workers Reject Deal; King Soopers Workers Give OK

JON SPRINGER

DENVER — Safeway employees in Colorado said Tuesday that they have voted to reject the retailer’s “last, best and final” contract offer and that they will ask the company to return to the bargaining table for a fifth time.

Workers at King Soopers, Kroger’s Colorado-based chain, in the meantime voted to approve a similar contract, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 here said.

According to the union, some Safeway units also voted to reauthorize a strike. The threat of a strike last month prompted the “last, best and final” offer from employers. The sides have been negotiating since April to replace a contract that expired May 9. Safeway workers have voted to reject three previous contract offers from Safeway.

A Safeway spokesman wasn’t immediately available for comment.

“The workers have stayed united and made every decision by majority vote to improve the contract offer,” UFCW Local 7 attorney Crisanta Duran said in a statement. “The workers are the union, we respect their decisions, and we hope Safeway will, too.”

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