DENVER A nonstop day of bargaining by union leaders and King Soopers executives ended in a short contract extension on Friday afternoon.Bargaining is now set to continue until the new deadline of Jan. 16.Weve been negotiating with King Soopers City Market representatives for about three months, and we've made zero to no progress with the company, said Kim Cordova, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 7, which represents 21,000 grocery store workers in Colorado and Wyoming.In 2022, Kroger and Albertsons announced an agreement to merge. However, last month, U.S. District Court Judge Adrienne Nelson issued a preliminary injunction blocking the merger, following a three-week hearing in Portland, Oregon. Then Judge Marshall Ferguson in Seattle issued a permanent injunction barring the merger in Washington after concluding it would lessen competition in the state and violate Washingtons consumer-protection laws.Albertsons filed a lawsuit against Kroger, alleging it didn't do enough to secure regulatory approval for the $24.6 billion agreement.UFCW Local 7 said the failed Kroger-Albertsons merger came at employees and consumers expense.[The company is] cashing out $7 billion for their investors and to pay Wall Street, but they're not investing back into the store. So we haven't seen lower grocery prices. We continue to see long lines at the store [and] product that's not making its way to the shelf, said Cordova.Long lines and empty shelves are one thing, but Cordova claims an increase in store crime is even more troublingWe have a lot of violence in these grocery stores. The company doesn't want to invest in additional security, proper pay, enough staffing, said Cordova.Its been three years since the last contract negotiation, which led to a worker strike. The last time a strike occurred at King Soopers, workers protested outside and gave shoppers flyers with information about different grocery stores.A strike is still on the line if an agreement is not reached by Jan. 16.In a statement to Denver7, a spokesperson for King Soopers said, We remain committed to the bargaining process and are hopeful that we can reach a fair agreement, in a timely manner, with UFCW Local 7, that invests in our associates' paychecks while keeping groceries affordable for Coloradans.The union, meanwhile, wants them to prove it.Workers are tired. They have been so overworked and really disregarded through this whole attempted merger that failed, said Cordova.King Soopers representatives said they are prioritizing their commitment to invest in their associates with an improved wage offer, which shows that top-rate clerks would receive a 5.41% increase during their first year of the contract. A company spokesperson said their latest negotiation offer also removed a proposal to reset hours in the wage scale, which would allow employees to keep their hours within their progression as they move over. You can view King Soopers' latest offer through this link Bargaining is set to continue throughout the weekend with Safeway executives, as that contract is set to expire at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday. Albertsons, the parent company of Safeway, said it is in negotiations with the union and did not have further comment, according to our partners at The Denver Post.