Labor Unions

Denver Post goes all-union but main pension plan to be frozen in "not a good" contract

The Denver Newspaper Guild has ratified a contract covering newsroom employees at the Denver Post, and as part of the deal, the broadsheet will become a closed shop, with all workers required to join the union. Yet DNG administrative officer Tony Mulligan isn't exactly celebrating, since the deal al ... More >>

From the Archives: "Boycott Coors Beer" protest comic book from 1977

Coors has been a prominent name in Denver since the brewery was founded in the late 1800s, and that history has not been without controversy. A succession of Coors chairmen made no bones about their conservative political leanings, particularly back in the '70s, when a brewery workers' union strike ... More >>

Marijuana groups backing outdoor ad ban won't disclose membership

Despite the pleas of patients, dispensary owners and infused-product entrepreneurs, Denver City Council members unanimously approved going forward with a ban on all outdoor medical marijuana advertising in the city -- a more draconian measure than the original proposal for a ban near schools, parks ... More >>

Update: Downtown Denver janitors agree to four-year pact, 8.6 percent pay bump

Update by Michael Roberts: We've now go more details about the vote yesterday that averted a possible strike by 2,300 janitors working in the Denver area. According to the Service Employees International Union Local 105, the vote in favor of the four-year pact, which was tentatively reached less th ... More >>

Medical marijuana: Fort Collins voters to decide about retail ban (again)

Last November, Fort Collins voters elected to shut down all medical marijuana dispensaries within city limits, with the MMCs closing by midnight on Valentine's Day. Now, a group of pro-dispensary supporters is hoping voters will bring the industry back to the northern Colorado town.

Cannabis Business Association thinks MMJ industry too young to unionize

Update:After the announcement that Budding Health medical marijuana centers are unionizing, we reached out to the Cannabis Business Association, whose president, Bob Hoban, had said last year it was premature to mandate labor pacts in such a young industry. We've now spoken to Shawn Coleman, interim ... More >>

Medical marijuana: Cheesecake Lady not buying into the Union just yet

​On October 17, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union announced that it was teaming up to represent employees of the medical marijuana industry in Colorado. Union organizer Mark Belkin said he'd seen overwhelming support for the move, but his enthusiasm now seems to be a ... More >>

Medical marijuana & unions: Cannabis Business Alliance says it's too soon to organize industry

​News that the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 had organized medical marijuana workers turned out to be less sweeping than it first seemed. Only staffers at several Fort Collins dispensaries have joined, with the UFCW's contributions to fighting an MMJ dispensary ban there likely in ... More >>

Medical marijuana workers joining UFCW Local 7: Is weed a growth area for unions?

Mark Belkin.​The conflict between federal and state laws present a challenge to the medical marijuana industry, as last week's DEA raid on the Cherry Top Farms dispensary demonstrates. But there's also growing institutional acceptance, illustrated by today's press conference announcing the uni ... More >>

Hackers break into UFCW Local 7 system, send message attacking new president Kim Cordova

Not every UFCW Local 7 member is a big Kim Cordova fan.​As documented in Melanie Asmar's December feature "Can a Mild-Mannered Grocery Clerk Solve the Grocery Workers' Labor Strife?," United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 has been rocked by a power struggle between supporters of previous ... More >>

Safeway belatedly responds to rejection of its latest contract offer

​Yesterday, King Soopers formally, and finally, acknowledged that its grocery workers had accepted the company's last, best and final contract offer. But silenced prevailed at Safeway, whose employees turned down pretty much the same deal -- until today. The firm's release focuses most of its ... More >>

Jobbed: King Soopers scabs, uh, replacement workers

​Having trouble finding work? You're not alone. Follow Jobbed every week as we troll for the weird, the wacky and the worst of what the recession-era world of job ads has to offer. The Job, as posted online: Temporary Replacement Clerk at King Soopers Responsibilities: King Soopers will be h ... More >>

Can a mild-mannered bakery clerk solve the grocery workers' labor strife?

Does a mail-in vote for a new grocery contract make ratification more likely?

A rally at UFCW 7 headquarters earlier this year.​Word broke last week that King Soopers and Safeway workers affiliated with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 would soon begin voting on the companies' last, best and final contract offer. But customers and employees alike won't know if ... More >>

King Soopers and Safeway barely get "last, best and final offer" to grocery workers under the wire

Will grocery shoppers be seeing signs like these in the near future?​Update below: King Soopers and Safeway told United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 reps they'd submit their "last, best and final" offer by the end of yesterday -- and they almost missed their own deadline. Just shy of 6 ... More >>

Read the letter about King Soopers' "last, best and final" offer to grocery workers

​Today, King Soopers and Safeway are expected to submit their "last, best and final" offer to grocery workers. Don't know much about the details yet, or whether the proposal will be notably different from the ones members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 have roundly rejected ... More >>

While grocery workers fret, their union bosses are busy fighting

Melanie AsmarKim Cordova and Cindy Lucero in front of the UFCW headquarters.​ Kim Cordova and Cindy Lucero, the president-elect and secretary-treasurer-elect of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, stood in front of the union's empty headquarters in Wheat Ridge this afternoon and, w ... More >>

A grocery worker talks about potential strike, lockout

​On October 20, talks between grocery workers and Safeway about a new contract broke down only a few hours after they'd started up again -- and later that week, King Soopers employees were given a letter strongly implying that if Safeway staffers struck, they'd be locked out. It's a scenario f ... More >>

Read the letter from a King Soopers exec threatening a lockout if union workers strike Safeway

​Yesterday, in the wake of a negotiating breakdown between Safeway and United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, King Soopers employees were given a letter attributed to Dave Savage, vice president of retail operations for the firm. The document accuses the union of "recklessly pursuing a co ... More >>

How imminent is a grocery-workers strike after latest contract rejection?

Are signs like these in the future for Coloado grocery shoppers?​Yesterday, the last votes by unionized Safeway workers were counted, and once again, they turned thumbs-down on a contract that struck plenty of employees as extremely familiar. According to United Food and Commercial Workers Loc ... More >>

Zero progress evident in grocery-worker negotiations

An icon from the AlwaysHereForColorado.com site.​In early May, it looked like a strike against King Soopers, Safeway and Albertsons by union employees was a real possibility. Since then, however, the situation has dragged out and out and out, with continued extensions creating little pressure ... More >>

Grocery-workers union recalls Soopers' first King

The contract dispute involving workers at King Soopers, Safeway and Albertsons has been quiet of late, with United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 7 seeking to maintain member loyalty during this period via releases about, for example, pension reductions that would go into ef ... More >>

Grocery workers, management in potential-strike staredown

An image from the AlwaysHereForColorado.com website. Just as they did in early May, King Soopers employees rejected the company's latest contract offer. In a press release, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local No. 7, characterized the margin of defeat as overwhelming and urged "the co ... More >>

It's quiet on the potential grocery store strike or lockout front

The latest contract extension between King Soopers and workers represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local #7 expired at midnight on May 30. But as of this writing, at least, nothing much has happened. It's been clear for weeks that neither management nor labor really want a ... More >>

If there's a grocery strike, what will you do?

A Flickr photoWorkers picket a California Albertsons in 2003 Have you worked out your supermarket strike plan? If you haven't, now might be a good time. Although the corporate execs and lawyers at Safeway, King Soopers and Albertsons are still negotiating with the familiar, name-tagged faces who ... More >>

Management, union really don't want a grocery strike

The decision by employees at King Soopers and Safeway to keep working amid continuing negotiations with management through at least May 30 despite the fact that their respective contracts have expired indicates an understanding that striking amid an economic downturn is a worst-case scenario for a ... More >>

Grocery-workers union ratchets up web presence prior to possible strike

Yesterday, King Soopers employees represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local No. 7 rejected the chain's latest proposal, laying the groundwork for a potential May 9 strike. Taking such an action in this employment environment is risky, as witnessed by the long lines of folks ... More >>

Are unions gunning for Ryan Frazier because of his Amendment 47?

Has the other shoe finally dropped for up-and-coming Republican Ryan Frazier? The Aurora city councilman made headlines - as well as enemies - for sponsoring the controversial "right to work" ballot measure Amendment 47 this past November, and even though it lost at the polls, unions, many of which ... More >>

Ryan Frazier puts his job on the line with Amendment 47

Talking Dirty

Denver's janitors were being swept aside. Now they're winning respect.

Critical Condition

Denver Health nurses are ready to unionize to save their profession.

Bring It On

Despite union efforts, Wal-Mart is not a cheer-ocracy.

Check-out Time

The hotel union isn't about to let Denver forget the Adam's Mark.

The Cowboy Way

Federal prison guards accused of beating inmates have their own support group -- the officers' union.

Company Town

In Pueblo, the iron will of a union has proved tougher than steel.

Look for the Union URL

At the federal supermax, it isn't just the inmates who think management is unfair.

Organized Chaos

The labor movement at Swedish Medical Center could be catching.

No Labor Lost

Ellen Golombek plays rough with the Capitol bosses.

Off Limits

Janitors in a Conundrum

A bitter labor dispute envelops the Denver Tech Center.

Union Busted

A young woman gets $200,000 to settle a lawsuit against a union concerning a sexual assault.

Letters

Up the Organization

Upstart Jack Hawkins tries to win control of the state AFL-CIO.

An Unholy Union

A young labor organizer was sexually assaulted by a colleague. Was Local 7 to blame?

Labor Pangs

AFSCME mounts another attempt to unionize Denver city workers.

Taking Its Toll

Labor STRIFE, racial tension and a "disadvantaged" owner who drives a Mercedes: between the lines of DIA's controversial parking contract.

LABOR PAINS

AN EX-LAWYER FOR THE TEAMSTERS HAS A CAR WINDOW BLOWN OUT BY A PIPE BOMB.

THE BIG HURT

TRUTH IS THE FIRST CASUALTY IN THE POLITICAL WAR OVER AMENDMENT 11.

THE CASTLE ON THE HILL

IT WAS MAN VERSUS MACHINE. AND THE ARISTOCRATS OF LABOR LOST.THE LAST OF THEIR TYPE RESIDENTS OF THE UNION PRINTERS HOME LEAVE A LASTING IMPRESSION.

MINDING THE STORE

THEY DON'T MAKE BOMBS ANYMORE AT ROCKY FLATS. BUT THE PLANT IS AS DANGEROUS AS EVER.