Employees from 10 King Soopers stores in the Colorado Springs area voted Friday to authorize a strike against the grocer King Soopers, joining union employees in the metro Denver area who also voted to strike on Thursday.

According to United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, King Sooper Colorado Springs Meat voted 97.7% to authorize a strike and retail voted 95.8%. Employees have been directed by the union to “continue to report to work until further notice.”

Colorado Springs area employees went through three sessions of voting and discussion on Friday, with standing-room-only by the start of each meeting, according to several attendees. The Gazette and all other media outlets were not allowed inside the room during the sessions due to employee concerns about retaliation and privacy.

Local 7 is advocating for adequate hours and increased safety for employees in stores along the Front Range, from Boulder to Pueblo.

Union employees agreed to strike against King Soopers after negotiations between union leaders and the grocer came to a standstill as contracts across the region expired. The union can now call a strike when and if they choose, without notice.

There remains a chance an agreement is reached before employees begin to officially strike.

Outside the Friday meetings, four members of the bargaining committee organized by Local 7 spoke with The Gazette about their top concerns and proposals. Union members submitted more than 80 proposals, according to Conor Hall, a deli clerk from Boulder.

The top two concerns from employees across the state were inadequate hours to complete the tasks assigned to them and the alleged lack of safety protocols, sometimes going hand in hand.

“One of our tasks is to clean the deli slicers and they’re supposed to be done every four hours, but that doesn’t happen,” Hall alleged. “There’s just no time for it.”

Hall said the lack of proper cleaning throughout the day, especially in the food areas, can lead to cross contamination and health risks for customers.

“We’re coming off the bat of things like the Boar’s Head listeria outbreak, where all of that bologna got contaminated with listeria. Lettuce is getting routinely contaminated with listeria,” Hall alleged. “Those are the results of not being able to properly clean.”

King Soopers representatives did not respond to a Gazette email Friday asking for a response to the alleged health and safety concerns.

Reyna Carpenter, a seafood manager at a Pueblo location, said the lack of appropriate hours also leads to poor training for new employees. Pueblo-area employees are scheduled to vote Saturday to decide if they will strike as well.

“There’s no shoulder-to-shoulder training anymore; that’s just gone,” Carpenter said.

Carpenter and Hall said they’ve been told by those higher up that their departments are actually overstaffed, not understaffed.

In an interview with a Gazette reporter Friday, King Soopers said staffing issues are being addressed. President Joe Kelley said stores are more staffed now than they were four years ago.

Chris Lacey, a service manager in Littleton, said similar concerns ring true for his location regarding staffing, but another major priority is store safety, for both customers and employees.

In Colorado Springs, a man was shot and killed near the gas pumps in a King Soopers parking lot on Jan. 20. One of the many union proposals asked the company to alert staff if there is a dangerous emergency situation, like a fire or a nearby shooting.

“It’s a no-cost item,” both Reyna and Hall echoed.

Lacey told The Gazette one of his fears with a new contract is that safety concerns would be pushed to the side in favor of other proposals.

“I’m afraid they’re going to take more liberties with safety,” Lacey said. “Anytime we bring up safety to them, they tell us that they feel that their stores are safe.”

As a service manager, one of the biggest complaints he hears from customers is long lines and the inability to find an employee who is free to help them.

“I feel like they’re going to take away more hours, which will leave us even more short-staffed, which will lead to more aggression and danger,” Lacey said.

Another worry brought up by Colorado Springs employee David Burciago is the future of retirement benefits. Burciago has worked with King Soopers since 1980.

“I’m close to retirement, so when they’re taking money away from these retirees’ benefits, that affects me now,” Burciago said.

In the same Gazette interview Friday, Kelley also denied the company is trying to roll back pensions, not increasing wages enough for most workers or taking back benefits.

“We’re not taking any money out. Matter of fact, our health care plan is in the green. Our reserves are in the green. Our pensions are fully funded and our reserves are fully funded,” Kelley said.

With decades under his belt, Burciago said King Soopers used to be a different company, focusing on family and serving the community.

“You were given the opportunity and the hours and the time to actually provide that. You weren’t always in a rush to get all these tasks completed,” Burciago said.

While not a primary concern, several of those on the bargaining committee brought up unfair pay. According to prior Gazette reporting, one offer by King Soopers included raising hourly wages $4.50 over the next four years, or approximately $1 more each year, for top associate positions.

However, “top associates” only make up a small portion of all staff, union officials said.

“That’s part of one of the unfair labor practices,” Kim Cordova, president of Local 7, said. “We’re not going to agree to the deal; it only applies to a small group. Thousands of workers are going to see (little-to-no raises.)”

Kelley also refuted Cordova’s claim, saying workers who aren’t “top associates” are still getting raises based on how many hours they’ve worked at the company through a progression rate.

Cordova went on to also allege that the grocer was “randomly and selectively” adding wages to employees in “more affluent” neighborhoods.

“They’re not adding those across the board to everybody else,” Cordova claimed.

The most recent King Soopers strike was in 2022. The strike totaled more than 8,000 workers and only covered metro Denver-area stores. Cordova said Friday one of the reasons behind the 2022 strike was the discrepancy of pay across stores.

The contract that ended the strike expired in January alongside several other regional contracts.

If Pueblo follows suit with Colorado Springs and the Denver area, it could affect more than 10,000 workers.

“I want it to be better when I leave,” Burciago said. “I believe that if the company truly is really concerned with how we feel and the things that we’re asking for, I think that we can definitely come together.”

Gazette’s Bernadette Berdychowski contributed to this report.