King Soopers officials announced Tuesday they’re seeking a temporary restraining order against thousands of striking employees, claiming that picketing has created “unsafe conditions."

King Soopers says it's an issue of customer safety. The union says it's an attempt to silence and intimidate picketers.

King Soopers has filed for a temporary restraining order against union workers, accusing picketers of harassing customers amid a strike across 77 Denver metro grocery stores. FOX31’s Gabby Easterwood spoke with Bryan Kuhn,

“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.

Unionized King Soopers workers in Broomfield and Boulder counties joined their peers in the Denver metro area to vote in favor of a strike authorization this week as the Kroger Co.-owned (NYSE: KR) grocery-store chain and the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 have failed to agree on terms for a new labor contract.

The union representing striking King Soopers workers has denounced a lawsuit filed by the grocery chain that calls the workers' actions "unsafe." The union said King Soopers was trying to "silence its own workers.