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.

The Pueblo stores will join some 10,000 King Soopers workers across 77 stores in the greater Denver area who began striking against unfair labor practices early Thursday morning.

King Soopers strike starts today | LIVE UPDATES

Union President Kim Cordova said at an afternoon press conference in Denver the union has authorization to expand the strike to stores in the Colorado Springs area, but did not specify when those strikes could be called, adding that some of the Colorado Springs-area workers’ contracts haven’t expired.

Strikes at Colorado Springs King Soopers stores could be called once those contracts do expire later in February, the union said in a news release Thursday afternoon.

Nearly 98% of King Soopers meat workers in Colorado Springs and about 96% of retail workers voted to strike last week. In Pueblo, 97% of retail workers and 100% of meat workers also voted to strike.

King Soopers employees allege unfair labor practices as Colorado Springs stores vote to strike

Thousands of Denver-area King Soopers grocery store workers go on strike

The Kroger-owned grocery chain with 121 stores in Colorado and Wyoming has been negotiating a new contract since October. The current contract expired in January.

The union alleges King Soopers illegally interrogated and surveilled union members, refused to provide information needed for contract negotiations, threatened union members with discipline for clothes and buttons expressing union support, and insisted on using $8 million in retiree health benefit funds to cover pay increases.

King Soopers denies all allegations, saying it has acted in compliance with the law and its collective bargaining obligations. Management has gone to “great lengths” to share all relevant data with the union, is committed to fair and lawful negotiations and disputes the union’s claim that it would “gut” the retiree health benefit funds, the chain said in a previous statement.

Locations in northern and southern Colorado and Cheyenne, Wyo., where workers are not on strike, will remain open during their usual hours, union representatives have said.