Unionized King Soopers workers in Broomfield and Boulder counties joined their peers in the Denver metro area to vote in favor of a strike authorization this week as the Kroger Co.-owned (NYSE: KR) grocery-store chain and the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 have failed to agree on terms for a new labor contract.

Grocery workers in the metro Denver area wrapped up voting Thursday night and voted to strike against King Soopers after negotiations came to a standstill between union leaders and the

In a phone interview with The Denver Gazette, King Soopers and City Market President Joe Kelley said he is disappointed by the strike vote and thought the union’s decision is premature. Kelley has run Kroger’s Colorado stores since 2021. He said nobody won in the 2022 strike that lasted nine days, and no one will win in the next one, either.