King Soopers and Safeway workers have agreed to extend their contracts for more than a month in order to continue negotiations with the grocery chains.

The contracts had been set to run out on Aug. 15.

United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local No. 7 members have been negotiating new five-year contracts with the two grocers and with Albertsons since April. Albertsons employees have been working without a contract since early May.

At issue have been worker requests for higher pay, better health care and stabilized funding of pension plans that have been decimated by the stock-market crash. Safeway workers voted to authorize a strike if necessary in May but have yet to do so.

Union leaders met Tuesday with Safeway officials and presented several options to fix the pension plan, union spokeswoman Laura Chapin said. Corporate and union trustees will meet again on Aug. 13 to review those options, she said.

Additional bargaining dates have been set for Sept. 2 and 9.