KING COUNTY, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – A union representing thousands of grocery store workers around King County has voted to strike.

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW 3000) represents workers at Kroger-owned stores and Albertsons-owned stores.

The union is asking the grocery chains for better wages, more staffing and improved healthcare.

A spokesperson for UFCW 3000 tells My Bellingham Now that workers at grocery stores in Whatcom and Skagit counties are part of the same union, but those workers have a separate contract and aren’t likely to be impacted if there is a strike.

The pickets would mainly affect King, Kitsap and Thurston counties, as well as meat workers in Snohomish.

A separate strike announcement could also impact grocery workers in Pierce County.

A strike is not inevitable, however, as both sides are set to return to the bargaining table this Thursday and Friday.