Coloradoans: Grocery store labor dispute - where to shop?

[backscatter712]

Here's the situation. Local unions are in a contract dispute with three local grocery store chains: Safeway, King Soopers and Albertsons.

King Soopers and their unions agreed to a contract extension to try to settle this.

Safeway's union did not - they voted to strike.

King Soopers and Safeway have an agreement - if one chain's workers go on strike, the other chain locks out its workers.

I'm not sure what Albertsons or its union are up to.

In any case, I'm gonna support the unions. If union workers are on strike or locked out, I will not shop at the stores involved.

In the event that all three chains are in strike/lock-out mode, where should I shop? I'm not giving money to the bastards until they treat their workers right.

[imdjh]

1. Stock up now? n/t

[Moses2SandyKoufax]

3. Good idea,

the last strike (1996?) lasted about 5-6 weeks.

[Moses2SandyKoufax]

2. Do you have a Costco membership? n/t

[Joe the Liberal]

4. Yea I heard about that too............

I live in Colorado as well, thanks for the info I didn't really know what is all about. As far as where else you could shop, I'm not sure, you could try Whole Foods perhaps :shrug:

That's where I would go if I wasn't shopping at King Soopers, Safeway and Albertsons.

[LeftyMom]

5. Whole Foods is famously anti-union.

:shrug:

Local shop maybe? I know our local food co-op has a union workforce but they're still open when the other groceries go on strike because they're Teamsters and the big chains are all UFCW, so they're not in negotiations at the same time.

[XOKCowboy]

6. Denver is not a "local shop" kind of place.

Unless you count 7-11s. Good suggestion but not readily available to much of the population. I'm leaving town tomorrow for a week but I'll be following the story. What I hate about it is that this strike will affect uninformed people and we'll soon start seeing articles about how selfish, greedy and overpaid the union workers are.

[NYC_SKP]

7. Surely there are more than three grocers in Colorado...

Even if the prices are higher at smaller independent grocers, maybe they need your business to survive.

[hlthe2b]

10. Not really.... there are a few independent "health food" type stores

but they are sparsely located--

Whole Foods are pretty available throughout Metro Denver, there are some Vitamin Cottages and a couple of Sunflower Foods, but other than Super Targets and CostCo, the big three are the standard supermarket choices... And most Albertsons closed some time ago, anyway

[NYC_SKP]

18. Wow, sad really that there are no small grocers.

but consistent with trends everywhere.

When possible I patronize the local Ace Hardware, indy coffee houses, but grocers are getting rare and have less and less selection over time.

[backscatter712]

8. I may hit Vitamin Cottage.

There are multiple locations in the Denver area, and one that's not too far from me - they are more expensive than the regular chain grocers, but they're more local, and they aren't affected by the union disputes.

I'm not sure if they're unionized or not, but they have decent food there.

More expensive, but yes, worth it.

[pnorman]

9. That's the dilemna I've always hoped I'd never have to deal with.

My mobility is quite limited, and I have to do ALL my shopping via internet. That includes groceries, and I've been using mainly Safeway, and occasionally Albertsons. The orders are done on-line, using my bank card. They're then delivered to my apartment door the following day, within a 2 hour window. That's not the same as walking through a legitimate picket line, but it still gives me something to think about.

But by physically walking through such a picket line, you'd be setting a public example, that others who might be "indecisive" might then emulate (and before media photographers). It might sound like chicken-shit hair-splitting, but if you have absolutely NO choice, how about that?

pnorman

[hlthe2b]

11. Super Target is non-union, I assume....

but then, so is Costco even though they treat employees relatively well...

[backscatter712]

12. Yep. Googled Target - they're as anti-union as Walmart.

Some Costco stores have unionized workers, but that's in California and the northeast U.S., not in Colorado.

[walldude]

13. Costco!

That's where we shop. I don't think they are unionized but that would be because they don't need to be. They pay all their employees a living wage with good beni's.

[backscatter712]

14. Hard for me to shop at Costco.

First, I don't have a membership, and am too poor to get one, and second, they deal mostly in the ultra-high-bulk quantities. I'm a single guy living alone, and find mega-packs of food to be too cumbersome to deal with.

[fizzgig]

15. is there a sunflower market in your area?

i'm not sure about their policies/attitudes towards unions, but i much prefer them to whole foods.

thanks for the heads up, i somehow managed to miss this.

[hlthe2b]

16. There were "hiring" announcements all over my Safeway today

on the frozen food doors and elsewhere. Does this mean they are hiring "scabs?"

[mrs_p]

17. no union line at safeway, yet

so can stock up now, i guess. where are you at? here in fort collins, the farmer's market's are starting back up, and then there's the super target, but i've never been there. what about costco's?

[backscatter712]

19. Safeway and their union agreed to a temporary contract extension.

Looks like there will be no strike, for a while...