Unionized King Soopers grocery workers in the Denver area have overwhelmingly voted against a five-year offer from the company.
The Denver-area employees voted Monday to urge the company to return to the bargaining table.
Union members in Colorado Springs, Longmont and Boulder will vote today, and workers in Pueblo will vote Wednesday.
Union spokeswoman Laura Chapin said a preliminary review of the ballots Monday night showed that Denver-area workers overwhelmingly rejected the company’s offer.
King Soopers spokeswoman Diane Mulligan said the company was disappointed to hear about the vote, but she added the company will continue to try to reach an agreement with the union.
The union’s bargaining team — made up of workers who attended the session at which the contract was presented — voted to reject the offer.
The UFCW has been negotiating with King Soopers, Safeway and Albertsons since April.
The workers’ five-year contract expired May 9, although the contracts were extended to different dates. Safeway’s expires June 26.
King Soopers and Albertsons contracts have expired, and those employees are working without a contract.
The proposed King Soopers contract includes pension-accrual adjustments, increasing the retirement age to receive full benefits from 50 to 55, pay increases for workers at top- scale wages and adding $35 million to the hard-hit pension fund.
United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 members say they object to proposed cuts in wages, pension and health care.
A final tally for all the workers along the Front Range will be made Wednesday.
