The strike at the JBS USA beef processing plant in Greeley, Colorado, involves approximately 3,800 workers who walked out on March 16, according to multiple reports. This action was authorized by 99% of workers represented by United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 after nine months of negotiations, based on major media accounts. This strike is an unfair labor practice strike, according to major media reports.
It represents the first strike action ever carried out at the Greeley plant, as described by Kim Cordova in The Guardian - Business. S. slaughterhouse since workers walked out at a Hormel plant in Minnesota in 1985, based on major media accounts.
We have never had a labor dispute at this plant. The industry hasn't had a labor dispute for a very long time and it's because they hire a very vulnerable workforce and the expectations are they keep their head down. They're doing the work frankly no one in this country wants to do.
Workers are demanding higher wages and improved healthcare, according to multiple reports. JBS USA has offered less than 2% in average annual wage increases, according to Kim Cordova. The strike began on March 16 and has extended into a third week, according to major media reports.
The exact number of workers currently participating remains unclear. JBS USA is the world's largest meatpacking company with a market capitalization of $17 billion, based on major media reports. It is the top employer in Greeley, Colorado, and is operating at limited capacity while shifting beef production elsewhere to meet customer needs, according to a JBS USA statement.
They were charging workers for the replacement of personal protective equipment, which they are required to buy for them. Some of this equipment is $1,100 and they are garnishing that at full cost for the equipment. They've committed unfair labor practices. They've terminated bargaining committee members. They've tried to take away options on the table, a payout bonus, if workers won't accept their lowball offers.
Pilgrim's Pride, a subsidiary of JBS, donated $5 million to the Trump-Vance inaugural committee, making it the largest single donor, according to major media reports. In January 2025, JBS agreed to settle child labor violations for $4 million without admitting wrongdoing, based on multiple reports. JBS was approved for trading on the New York Stock Exchange last May despite environmental opposition and a federal probe that led to its guilty plea for bribing Brazilian officials, based on multiple reports.
Workers allege that JBS has forced them to pay out of pocket for expensive personal protective equipment, discriminated against immigrant workers, and tried to force through low-ball contract options, according to worker statements reported by major media. Kim Cordova has accused JBS of dragging out negotiations and not addressing rising healthcare costs or allegations of systemic wage theft at the plant, according to her statements. The union cited an ongoing lawsuit against JBS alleging discrimination against Haitian workers by increasing line speeds on Haitian employees and recruiting them under false pretenses, according to union sources.
I think they are emboldened by their relationship with the administration. They were Trump's largest donor to the inauguration.
S. meat prices, according to major media reports, but experts say it is too early to know if the walkout will impact beef prices for shoppers. Amid the Greeley strike and other capacity reductions, JBS and other companies are reportedly seeing profits increase, according to Jennifer Martin.
The lack of harvest capacity at one facility might actually be a benefit to the larger industry in improving profit margins, based on Jennifer Martin's description in The Independent - Main.
It's not necessarily in favour of the employees. The lack of harvest capacity at one facility right now might actually be a benefit to the larger industry in the sense of improving (profit) margins.