Shopping at Safeway might mean crossing a picket line in Northern California this weekend. Thousands of Safeway workers are poised to go on strike Saturday, if the company and local unions don’t reach a labor agreement Friday evening.

“If there’s no deal by midnight Friday, July 25, we’re ready to strike. This fight is about dignity and respect for the workers who kept our communities going,” the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, Local 5, posted on Instagram.

Union delegates representing some 25,000 grocery workers across the region spent “24 hours of nonstop bargaining” with Safeway this week, but are “still waiting for a fair offer,” the union added. If a strike does occur, it could affect more than 200 Safeway stores across Northern California.

The unions are asking for better wages, improved healthcare offerings and retirement security. They’ve been bargaining for almost half a year with Safeway, which is headquartered in Pleasanton. A federal mediator was recently called in to aid the negotiations, without much apparent effect.

“The company clearly had no interest in addressing the issues important to our hardworking Safeway members in the high-cost-of-living Northern California,” the Local 5 union said in a statement.

In preparation for possible strikes, the union held two picket lines this month outside of Safeway stores, one in Pleasant Hill, another in Burlingame.

A union spokesperson did not return a request to comment on Friday about the state of the negotiations. But Safeway, a subsidiary of American grocery giant Albertsons, indicated on Friday afternoon that no agreement had been struck.

“We remain committed to productive, good-faith negotiations with the UFCW locals in Northern California,” a company spokesperson emailed. “We continue to meet at the bargaining table and work with a federal mediator. While we are disappointed that the Unions have indicated the possibility of a strike at some of our stores, we fully respect our associates’ right to engage in collective bargaining.”

Safeway is “working diligently to balance the needs of our associates and customers” and “ensure the long-term sustainability of our business in a highly competitive grocery industry,” the spokesperson added.

In the lead-up to a possible work stoppage, Safeway has reportedly been seeking to hire replacement workers for hourly wages higher than most of the company’s workers, KQED reported on Friday.

Union spokesperson Jim Araby told the media outlet that “members feel like it was a massive slap in the face. It’s definitely influenced our members to want to go out on strike.”