Union members of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) in Southern California and the Pacific Northwest have voted this week to authorize a worker strike against Kroger and Albertsons stores, Supermarket News reported.

With the clock winding down toward Saturday night's deadline for new contract negotiations, a Colorado union has announced locations where grocery employees are set to walk off the job on Sunday in protest.

Thousands of employees unite in a strike vote against Kroger and Albertsons, seeking better working conditions and wages.

After five months at the bargaining table, the United Food & Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) 3000 union voted to reject their employers’ latest contract by more than 97%.

The union will take strike authorization votes this week after filing unfair labor practice charges against the companies last week.

If a strike occurred in SLO County, it could affect up to eight stores — Albertsons, Vons and Ralphs locations — from Paso Robles to Nipomo.

Currently, unfair labor practice strikes are limited to Safeway/Albertsons locations in just four cities: stores in Estes Park, Fountain and Pueblo, and a distribution center in Denver.