The Colorado grocery workers’ union pleaded in a letter to its international leadership Friday to authorize a strike before the busy food holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas.
“We simply cannot let Thanksgiving and Christmas pass us by,” wrote UFCW Local 7 president Ernest Duran to the union’s international leadership, which has refused to let the local walk out on strike.
“If (Kroger and Safeway) know we can go out before the upcoming holidays, I believe they will bargain seriously and a settlement can be reached,” he wrote.
Duran wrote his letter in response to a Friday letter from international president Joe Hansen, telling the union to continue negotiating with Kroger and Safeway until it receives its “last, best and final offer.”
In his letter to the international office, Duran wrote that he believes the union’s international constitution requires only a “final” proposal, which it has received, before it can walk.
