About 45,000 grocery workers have authorized a strike at Ralphs, Albertsons, Vons and Pavilions stores in Southern California to protest unfair labor practices.

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.

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.

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%.

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

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

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