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Theresa Wiberg, a strike leader for an Englewood store and member of the union’s negotiating team, said the company “was not bargaining in good faith.”

“They sent out a contract to the employees that was different from the contract that they gave us across the table,” she said. “They’ve been hiring gig workers to come in and stock our shelves, giving away our union jobs.”

Wiberg has worked for the company for 28 years, 16 of which have been at the store located at 101 Englewood Pkwy. She said King Soopers may appear to be making meaningful offers, but the caveats that come with it will ultimately hurt workers.

“Like them saying ‘hey, we’ll give you a pay raise but sorry you’re going to have to pay for your health benefi ts.’ So, you’re not really getting a raise even though it looks good,” she said.

Working amid COVID-19, which has now killed 840,000 people nationwide, has put employees at heightened risk, said Wilberg, who added the company needs to do more to protect their safety.

“It doesn’t matter how much money you make if you don’t go home at the end of the day,” she said. “We don’t have people sanitizing every day … there’s a lot of cases with COVID, it’s pretty scary.”

Wiberg said the store needs to update its safety measures across the board.

“We’ve had Kroger workers that have gotten killed by pallets of water falling over them because they’re stocked unsafe,” she said.

Ultimately, Wiberg said she hopes the strike will raise awareness among community members about the need to support essential workers like herself.

“They just need to respect us, pay us, protect us,” she said.

Littleton Mayor Kyle Schlachter on social media endorsed the strike.

“I support our workers and @ UFCW_7 and will not cross the picket line!,” Schlachter said on Twitter.

Workers are staging a 3-week strike that began Jan. 14 after the company failed to meet their needs, employees said. PHOTO BY ROBERT TANN

A striker outside a Littleton King Soopers store holds a sign urging people to shop elsewhere while workers strike for better wages

and conditions. PHOTO BY ROBERT TANN

From left: Don Hotopp, Wesley Bradley, Dylan Simonson and Carlos Giraldo Pappas strike outside the King Soopers

at Littleton Boulevard and Broadway. PHOTO BY ROBERT TANN

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