Denver King Soopers and City Market workers may soon vote to strike as soon as Monday, according to the local union representing grocery workers.

United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 announced Friday it is in the process of scheduling strike votes with King Soopers and City Market workers as the contract settled amid the 2022 strike expired at midnight Friday with no new agreements made with the grocery store.

The previous contract had a “no-strike clause” and is now no longer in effect.

“Votes have not yet been held to authorize a strike, but those votes could be announced as early as Monday,” stated UFCW Local 7.

King Soopers in a statement said it did not want a strike and its “last, best and final” offer will last until Jan. 31, saying it hopes the union will bring forth the proposal to its members.

“Unfortunately, the Union’s refusal to do so shows a lack of respect for our associates, who pay their dues, and our communities, who depend on us for access to fresh food and other essentials,” King Soopers said in a statement.

“We know that nobody wins in a strike — strikes bring uncertainty and financial hardship, and we don’t want that for our people, our customers, or our communities,” the company added.

It’s the first time the union has returned to settle a contract with parent company Kroger since 2022, when negotiations sparked a strike and allegations the grocer colluded with Safeway with illegal non-poach agreements, which are still being settled through lawsuits filed by the state and the grocer’s union United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7.

That nine-day strike in January 2022, by some 8,000 workers at 78 Denver metro-area King Soopers and City Market stores, ended with the three-year contract that expired this week. The sides agreed to an estimated $170 million to $174 million worth of increases in wages, both for raises and increased starting salaries, and health care benefits.

The strike talks also come a month after the proposed merger between Albertsons and Kroger collapsed, which the UFCW Local 7 officials cheered.

Contracts for King Soopers and City Market grocery workers are being negotiated across the state, but the Denver metro region’s expires first and sets up the precedent for many terms made in other parts of the state.

UFCW Local 7 President Kim Cordova told The Denver Gazette in an interview Thursday before the contract expired that negotiations were contentious and said the grocer’s proposals were concessions to help pay for the cost of the merger failing.

The union said it’s fighting to protect benefits, raise wages to be livable for Colorado and push the grocer to address staffing issues at stores.

King Soopers, on the other hand, claims the union is stalling and not negotiating in good faith or offering its own wage, healthcare and pension proposals.

In its “final” offer, King Soopers proposed raising hourly wages by $4.25 over the next four years — or approximately $1 more each year — for top associate positions.

“We started meeting with the company in October with clear goals of necessary wage increases so workers could afford to live in our state, maintain decent health and retirement benefits, and resolve a staffing crisis that is causing daily strife for workers and customers alike,” Cordova said in a statement Friday. “The company’s proposal fails on all fronts.”

Health care benefits would cost workers $1 to $3 more each week, depending on the plan, remaining “low-cost,” according to King Soopers.

The union said the company’s proposals are inadequate and would cut the healthcare benefits and seniority-based scheduling perks, adding it would make it harder to retain workers to staff stores.

King Soopers retorted that its offer “maintains affordable healthcare and stable pensions contributions while addressing rising costs to ensure long-term benefit security for all associates,” in a worker’s guide for rebutting the union’s claims.