DENVER (KDVR) — Negotiations continued Monday as the King Soopers strike entered day six. Employees are still on the picket line as their union meets with Kroger-owned King Soopers at a Denver Tech Center hotel to find a middle ground.

“[We’re] telling them to shop at Safeway,” said a King Soopers employee on strike at the chain’s location in Denver’s Mayfair neighborhood.

The company’s latest proposal is a $170 million package that would raise wages over the next three years. But, the union has rejected that offer saying King Soopers refuses to address the skyrocketing cost of living in Colorado.

“They’re not really paying us what we are worth,” the man on the picket line said.

The workers on strike and the large corporation are not the only ones impacted. Smaller businesses, that share space in shopping plazas with King Soopers are also feeling the pinch.

“It is difficult,” said Matthew Amerson, owner and general manager of Mayfair Liquors next to King Soopers.

“It’s very symbiotic,” Amerson said. “I know we bring them some traffic, and they do bring us a lot of foot traffic.”

If dry January wasn’t bad enough for Mayfair Liquors, the strike is really slowing things down as people are not entering the shared parking lot.

“We’re looking at the receipts every night and thinking, this is not where we were hoping we would be,” he said.

Amerson said he wants workers to get a fair contract, and he hopes that happens soon. Meanwhile, King Soopers’ president claims the union is pushing fear over facts. The grocery stores, staffed with a limited number of temp workers, have been quieter over the past week.

Check back with FOX31 for the latest updates on this developing story.