Denver-area grocery workers are going to vote next week on whether or not to strike against King Soopers again, the local union representing the workers announced.

United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 scheduled votes for strike authorization on Wednesday, Jan. 29, and Thursday, Jan. 30, after the contract between the union and King Soopers expired last week and union leaders rejected the grocer’s “last, best and final offer”.

The last time the union went on strike was in 2022 for nine days by about 8,000 workers at 78 Denver metro-area King Soopers and City Market stores, both under the Kroger corporate umbrella.

It ended when the grocer and the union agreed on a three-year contract that expired last week, creating an estimated $170 million to $174 million worth of increases in wages, both for raises and increased starting salaries and health care benefits.

The union stated they rejected the latest offer from King Soopers, expressing frustration that it only offered concessions — claiming they believe its pushing workers and consumers to pay for the failed merger between Albertsons and its parent company Kroger.

Union president Kim Cordova told The Denver Gazette last week before the contract expired that the grocer and the union are “very far apart.”

Leaders said it weakened their benefits, didn’t address security and staffing issues at stores and offered uneven and low wage increases for workers who are already struggling to afford living in Colorado.

Meanwhile, King Soopers officials claim the union is stalling and not offering their own proposals.

Last week, King Soopers urged workers to hold their union accountable and take their offer. The grocer also said in a statement it does not want a strike.

The last 2022 strike disrupted shopping and an economist who testified in Colorado’s lawsuit against Kroger found Safeway stores gained $55 for every $100 King Soopers lost during the strike. The strike is still being litigated in court — both from the state’s initial lawsuit against the merger and from the union — over allegations King Soopers had illegal non-poach agreements with Safeway regarding workers and pharmacy prescriptions (which the grocers denied).

“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,” King Soopers said in a statement Friday.

Its final offer included raising hourly wages $4.25 over the next four years, or approximately $1 more each year, for top associate positions. Health care benefits would cost workers $1 to $3 more each week, depending on the plan, which King Soopers maintains it’s staying “low-cost.”

King Soopers officials retorted that its offer “maintains affordable healthcare and stable pension 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.

Next week’s strike authorization vote was the earliest the union could schedule as it needed to find a venue to host the vote and it’s also in the process of bargaining with Safeway, according to a Facebook comment the union left Monday.