Opinion: Readers take sides on the union worker strike at King Soopers. And there’s more than two sides.

As the King Soopers employee labor strike in metro Denver and Pueblo enters day 7, Colorado Sun readers are weighing in on labor unions, livable wages, corporate ownership and their neighborhood supermarket in the latest What’s Working reader poll. 

There was so much response, we wanted to share some of those comments on our opinion page. 

As of Tuesday afternoon, we have received more than 450 submissions. The poll is not scientific in any way. People didn’t have to leave their name, though we asked for it and some did (thanks!). We read responses from residents all over the state to help inform our reporting of what’s happening in Colorado. 

More than 66% picked “Never, ever cross a picket line,” in response to the question: What would you do if you need to run to the store on the weekend? In their comments, many readers shared that they wanted to support the striking employees. 

But that left about one-third who didn’t feel as strongly, at least in regard to picket lines. Responses were split between those who won’t let any picket stop them from shopping, and others who said they would just drive away to avoid any hassles. Most felt mixed. 

“I absolutely approve of living wages for ALL workers. But I have experienced unions which overstepped boundaries and negatively impacted small businesses,” one person wrote.

Some shared their generations of union loyalty. 

“As a kid I walked the picket lines with him, it wasn’t easy, but it was necessary,” wrote Tim Lopez, from Denver, about his father, who helped organize the union at Samsonite Luggage. 

Marilyn, a Denver resident whose spouse was a longtime member of the Air Line Pilots Association, said she had “an income in my old age thanks to the ALPA union. And the pilots’ hard-fought battle to change unsafe working conditions made flying safer for the flying public.” 

Others begrudgingly avoided a King Soopers stop over the Super Bowl weekend, saying they wouldn’t cross a picket line no matter how inconvenient. 

“I have my groceries delivered from King Soopers. It’s a terrific service, but I want to be sure those folks are well paid, so I won’t be ordering groceries from KS until the strike is over,” said Carol from Westminster. “Meantime, there’s always Target.”

The fact that the union started the strike to coincide with Super Bowl weekend and the upcoming Valentine’s Day weekend and Presidents Day holiday was not appreciated by a few readers. 

“They are punishing their customers to get what they want from the corporation. To me that shows total disregard for me as a person. The union representative you quoted was bragging about strategically choosing Super Bowl weekend to strike because it would have maximum impact. Meaning it would hurt their customers the most,” Ed Schlotzhauer wrote via email.

And there are shoppers who felt they had no choice. “Will cross to pick up prescriptions because (we) can’t switch stores,” said Susan, from Littleton. 

One person recalled the King Soopers strike from 2022, which also targeted the 77 metro Denver stores: “Too soon for them to strike again. They just did it three years ago. I feel less supportive this time.”

And some had outdated information. “When the minimum wage is $7+ dollars (how can such a wealthy country justify this?!!!), I support all groups working to improve the lives of workers. Shame on us.” 

That’s closer to the federal minimum wage, which at $7.25 an hour hasn’t changed since 2009. Colorado’s minimum wage is $14.81 and Denver’s is $18.81. For King Soopers workers, the lowest starting wage on the old contract was $17 last year while the average was $22.68, according to the company. 

One reader from Arvada with plenty of work experience said unions may be “cantankerous and difficult to deal with, but roughly seven stints working for various companies was a lot worse, in terms of arbitrary management, treatment of nonunionized employees, and the rest.”

Nearly 82% of respondents in our What’s Working poll approve of unions, which is higher than the latest Gallup poll. But approval doesn’t always mean folks approve of what unions choose to do. Liz Coolbaugh, who approves of unions, shared a common perspective among Sun readers. 

“I still want the unions to be reasonable and not greedy. Just being a union doesn’t make them always right,” said Coolbaugh, a resident in unincorporated Boulder County. “Of course, I want the same from King Soopers as well, to be reasonable and not greedy.”

Colorado Sun business reporter Tamara Chuang and team editor David Krause compiled this report.

The Colorado Sun is a nonpartisan news organization, and the opinions of columnists and editorial writers do not reflect the opinions of the newsroom. Read our ethics policy for more on The Sun’s opinion policy. Learn how to submit a column. Reach the opinion editor at opinion@coloradosun.com.

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