Above photo: Workers at one of the largest meatpacking plants in the nation are on strike. Chet Strange/Bloomberg via Getty Images.
Greeley, CO – Workers at the JBS meatpacking plant in Greeley began a two-week strike early Monday morning over what they said were the company’s unfair labor practices.
According to a press release by the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 (UFCW Local 7), workers voted in February, after months of negotiations, to start an unfair labor practice strike against JBS.
“Workers voted overwhelmingly to authorize an unfair labor practice strike against JBS as a result of the Company’s refusal to negotiate fairly with workers and fix the company’s pattern of wage theft, provide raises to workers that keep pace with the rising cost of living in Colorado and ensure stable health care costs for workers,” Carla Wyatt, executive secretary to the president of UFCW Local 7, said.
“For months now, JBS has been insisting on poverty-level wages for workers at the plant, offering less than 2% in average annual wage increases, far below the level of inflation in Colorado, while at the same time putting all the risk of rising healthcare costs on workers,” Kim Cordova, president of UFCW Local 7, said. “Meanwhile, despite being the world’s largest protein producer, JBS has been stealing from workers’ paychecks to fund the Company’s profits. JBS must do right by these workers and negotiate lawfully. Make no mistake, JBS chose this strike in an effort to lower worker wages nationwide, just as the Company has squeezed entire communities of ranchers across this country.”
According to UFCW Local 7, in January, JBS and other large meatpackers paid a reported $200 million to settle allegations that the companies had conspired to suppress wages in beef processing nationwide.
UFCW Local 7 said JBS workers deserve wage increases that keep pace with inflation and ensure they receive healthcare.
UFCW Local 7 said JBS has instead charged many workers $1,100 or more to offset the company’s expenses for life-saving personal protective equipment needed for worker safety.
“We want to be treated like human beings. We will not be intimidated, retaliated against, or suffer in silence. We work very hard, in difficult conditions, and want JBS to negotiate fairly for a contract that will allow us to live with dignity. We will stand together on the picket line until JBS recognizes our value and treats us fairly,” Deborah Rodarte, an inside skirt cutter at JBS’s Greeley plant, said.
UFCW Local 7 said workers were offered a meeting with JBS over the weekend to avoid the strike, but the company refused to meet with the workers.
JBS USA said in statement that the company operates in full compliance with federal and state labor and employment laws and that it was working toward a fair resolution.
The company also said it would operate two shifts at the plant Monday and would temporarily move production as needed to other JBS facilities.
