"I go home and I'll cook a big pot of soup and bring it out when most everybody's here and good and tired and drained, so at least they're full.”

The Colorado chain plans to resume normal hours at its stores on Wednesday after agreeing to a 100-day “period of labor peace” with UFCW Local 7.

More than 10,000 King Soopers grocery workers across the Denver area ended their 12-day strike late Monday after union leaders said they secured some basic protections for returning workers and agreed to resume bargaining with the Kroger-owned chain.

After nearly two weeks of striking, King Soopers and its workers’ union announced an end to the strike at midnight Monday. The return-to-work settlement will allow negotiations to continue, while ending worker disruptions at the King Soopers stores.

King Soopers filed a complaint accusing the union of delaying negotiations and not bargaining in good faith. Negotiations ended Jan. 17 after the union’s contracts with the company expired and union bargainers decided against presenting King Soopers’ proposal to employees.

King Soopers and the union agreed late Monday night to return to the bargaining table, ending 12 days of a strike against the supermarket chain in the Denver area and Pueblo.

“It is particularly galling that King Soopers is making such false allegations given the Company’s own track record of being caught lying about illegal coordination agreements with its competitor Safeway/Albertsons during the 2022 ULP strike by UFCW Local 7 workers,” said Kim Cordova, President of UFCW Local 7, in a statement.

The King Soopers union worker strike ended on Monday night when both the grocery store chain and the union reached a return-to-work settlement.

King Soopers is seeking a temporary restraining order against workers and has filed a lawsuit alleging the union of colluding with other union locals to engage in unlawful “multi-union bargaining”

The King Soopers strike is officially over as of today, February 18. Workers began striking on February 6 over allegations of unfair labor practices by King Soopers during negotiations for a new union contract.

Pueblo King Soopers workers ended an 11-day strike and returned to work Tuesday after union and Kroger officials agreed to resume bargaining.