Kroger workers approve new contract

After a nine-day strike in Denver, more than 8,000 workers Kroger Co.’s King Soopers grocery stores ratify a three-year contract. According to United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, which represents King Soopers workers in Colorado, the new contract includes higher wages of more than $5 per hour. The union said the workers would also receive better healthcare and pension benefits. 

Specific terms of the agreement were not shared by the union because certain members in other regions of Colorado are voting on the proposed contract later this week. The union said on Tuesday that the contract is ratified because a large majority of members has voted. 

On January 12th, around 8,400 unionized workers of King Soopers stores in Denver walked off their jobs after weeks of negotiating with the company for a new collective bargaining agreement. When the supermarket operator and the union reached an agreement on Friday the strike ended. Meanwhile, the strike affected 77 of the 151 King Soopers locations. A company spokesperson said that stores remained operational but some locations and service departments closed early due to strikes. The supermarket operators also hired temporary workers to staff the stores and even employees from other parts of the country traveled in to fill in. 

Source: The Wall Street Journal