Praveen Paramasivam, Siddharth Cavalle

(Reuters) – More than 8,000 King Soopers employees went on strike on Wednesday to demand better wages and benefits. This was after negotiations failed between Kroger and the union.

At 7:00 AM ET, the strike began. ET. The strike will last for three weeks, according to UFCW 7 union. The striking workers are among many others employed in King Soopers stores throughout the Denver metro area and Boulder, Parker, Broomfield, Parker and Parker cities.

Kroger stated that King Soopers will remain open because it has hired workers from all over the country as well as temporary employees to replace those who are striking.

This is the latest in a string of labor strikes in the United States following similar events at Kellogg (NYSE:) Co’s U.S. cereal plants and Deere (NYSE:) & Co as rising cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 and inflation push workers to demand higher wages and better working conditions.

King Soopers employees have asked for a $6/hour increase in wage. The company made a “last, best, and last offer”, which suggested raises up to $4.50 an hour, based on the job category and tenure.

According to the final offer made by the company on Tuesday, $170 million would be invested in salaries and bonuses for three years. They will start at $16 per hour, and they will also invest more in benefits such as healthcare.

After the union had rejected two wage offers last week, including one for $148million, this was the result.

Kim Cordova (the president of UFCW Local 7) said that Tuesday’s offer was in many ways worse than previous ones. The offer, she said, “still doesn’t cut it” and retained many of the concessions that were previously made. It also includes new concessionary products.

King Soopers is not sold by Kroger. It operates over 110 stores across Colorado and is the largest chain of grocery stores. The state’s No.1 grocery chain by market share.

CFRA Investment Research said King Soopers/City Market stores account for approximately 5% in Kroger’s annual sales. Kroger’s sales for the year ended Jan. 30, were $132.5 billion

Arun Sundaram, CFRA Research analyst, stated that depending on the length of the strike, there may be long-term consequences on market share. Albertsons and Walmart (NYSE:), are the top rivals to Kroger in Colorado.

On Wednesday, several customers spoke out on social media to support the union. They also declared that they would not shop at Kroger during the strike.

Colorado State Senator Jessie Danielson tweeted: https://