DENVER—A union representing Colorado grocery workers says Safeway is set to return to the bargaining table Oct. 20.
A Safeway spokeswoman on Tuesday confirmed the date.
United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 said last week that workers statewide had rejected the latest contract offers from Safeway and from Kroger Co.’s King Soopers and City Market chains.
Safeway workers also voted to reauthorize a strike, but they are still on the job.
The union represents about 17,000 workers at Safeway, King Soopers, City Market and Albertsons whose contracts expired May 9.
King Soopers spokeswoman Diane Mulligan said Tuesday that no date had been set yet for talks with her company. Albertsons workers also are awaiting more talks.
UFCW Local 7’s chief negotiator and president, Ernest L. Duran Jr., lost his re-election bid in a mail-in election last month, but union leaders have filed a challenge of the results, his daughter and union lawyer Crisanta Duran said Tuesday. She was among the candidates on her father’s slate. It could be months before international union leaders rule on whether to redo the election.
Crisanta Duran declined to comment further on the challenge, saying union leaders want to focus on contract negotiations. She has said only about 13 percent of union members voted, some members reported not receiving ballots, and the election was marred by “defamatory” allegations of how union dues were spent.
Kim Cordova is due to take office as UFCW Local 7 president Jan. 1.
