Thousands of meatpacking workers walk off job in first strike in 40 years

By Vanessa Yurkevich, CNN

(CNN) — Thousands of meatpacking workers walked off the job at a JBS-owned plant in Colorado on Monday in the industry’s first strike in 40 years.

JBS USA is the largest of the four major beef processing plants in the United States, which account for 85% of all US production. JBS employs a primarily immigrant workforce of 25,000 people across nine facilities nationwide.

United Food and Commercial Union Local 7, the union representing the 3,800 striking workers, said that JBS failed to meet its demands during contract negotiations over higher wages, life-saving safety equipment and improved healthcare.

“For months now, JBS has been insisting on poverty-level wages for workers at the plant … while at the same time putting all the risk of rising healthcare costs on workers,” said Kim Cordova, President of UFCW Local 7.

The strike at JBS’s Greeley, Colorado, plant is intended to last two weeks but could be extended, the union said. The previous contract expired on Sunday.

In a statement to CNN, JBS said its current offer “has already delivered meaningful wage increases, a secure pension, and long‑term financial stability” to its other unionized workers. JBS added that it will operate the facility to the best of its ability this week.

The strike comes as beef prices have risen 15.2% in the last year due to the smallest herd size in 75 years, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. The Trump administration announced in February it was quadrupling the import of beef from Argentina by 80,000 metric tons to help offset higher prices.

“If these plants close, it will have a huge impact on the economy,” Cordova told CNN. “Not just in Colorado, but in the US.”

In January, JBS agreed to pay $83.5 million over conspiring to price fix along with other meatpackers, according to settlement details.

Meatpacking workers at the Colorado plant accused JBS of retaliating against the organizing workers.

“We work very hard, in difficult conditions, and want JBS to negotiate fairly for a contract that will allow us to live with dignity,” said Deborah Rodarte, an inside skirt cutter in JBS’s Greeley plant. “We will stand together on the picket line until JBS recognizes our value and treats us fairly.”

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