The parent company of Kroger and King Soopers is suing the union representing the workers striking in Colorado, claiming bad-faith negotiating tactics.

King Soopers is suing the union representing the workers striking in Colorado, claiming bad-faith negotiating tactics.

King Soopers, a chain owned by Kroger, with 121 stores in Colorado and Wyoming, has been negotiating a new contract with the union since October.

The two-week labor stoppage has begun in Denver-area stores. Pueblo stores start will join on Friday. See the list of impacted stores and pharmacies.

Some 10,000 grocery store workers are now on strike in Denver and nearby areas, claiming unfair and illegal negotiating practices by the King Soopers store chain

This is the second contract in a row that workers at King Soopers have launched a major strike. Three years ago roughly 8,000 workers walked off the job for 10 days with the union raising the demand for a $6 an hour across the board wage increase.

Unionized King Soopers workers in Broomfield, Boulder and Louisville will join their fellow United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 members from around the Denver metro area in a two-week strike beginning at 5 a.

Workers in Pueblo hit the picket line one day after 10,000 workers across 77 stores in multiple Colorado counties took up signs.

Union employees at two King Soopers stores in Pueblo will begin striking on Friday, though no strikes have yet been called in Colorado Springs, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 7 announced.

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Colorado King Soopers filed a federal lawsuit Friday against UFCW Local 7 for the recent grocery store worker strike. The company claims UFCW Local 7 is “unlawfully forcing the Company to bargain with labor unions from Washington and California – that do not represent its associates – to push an impermissible agenda at the bargaining table.