Workers return to Swift Beef after JBS agrees to resume negotiations
Workers at Swift Beef Co. in Greeley, Colorado, will return to work Tuesday after a three-week strike ended with an agreement to resume negotiations, union officials said. The decision followed an announcement that JBS USA would restart talks and prepare to ramp up operations at the plant, according to statements from both sides.
The strike at the Swift Beef facility began March 16 and involved thousands of workers represented by United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7. Union representatives said the walkout was tied to demands for higher wages and better health care.
In a statement, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 President Kim Cordova said workers would return Tuesday morning after JBS USA agreed to reopen negotiations later in the week. Cordova also said, “Workers remain united and will continue to fight,” as the union described its negotiating posture going into the renewed bargaining.
JBS USA spokesperson Nikki Richardson said the company is preparing to resume and ramp up operations at the Greeley plant next week. Richardson said the company’s “Our Last, Best and Final offer remains on the table” and said in an email that JBS hopes employees will have the opportunity to review and vote on it soon.
The agreement to end the walkout came after union officials said the strike was launched in response to accusations that Swift Beef management retaliated against workers and committed unfair labor practices. The union said those accusations included efforts to intimidate workers in one-on-one meetings aimed at quitting the union, with union general counsel Matt Shechter saying the company tried to discourage membership directly.
In its account of the pay dispute, the union said Swift Beef offered less than 2% more per year in wages, an increase the union said was below inflation in Colorado. JBS USA denied any labor law violations and said its contract offer was fair, according to the reporting.
The Greeley strike was unfolding during a period of tight cattle supply and rising meat prices, which added pressure to labor and business negotiations. The reporting said U.S. cattle numbers hit a 75-year low this year, a decline driven in part by drought and low prices offered to ranchers, while beef prices rose to record levels.
Analysts cited in the reporting said an extended strike could disrupt the industry and ultimately drive up prices. Jennifer Martin of Colorado State University’s animal sciences department said a longer walkout threatened broader disruption in a market already facing price volatility, while the reporting described how the Greeley plant represents about 6% of total U.S. beef slaughterhouse capacity.
The strike in Greeley also stood out for its rarity in the modern era. The reporting said it was the first strike at a U.S. slaughterhouse since workers walked out at a Hormel plant in Minnesota in 1985, a labor conflict that lasted more than a year and included violent confrontations between police and protesters.
JBS has been at the center of additional scrutiny beyond the strike, and the reporting noted that the company’s shares were approved for trading on the New York Stock Exchange last May despite environmental opposition and a federal probe. The reporting also said the probe led to a guilty plea in October connected to bribing Brazilian officials for the financing used for U.S. expansion.
As talks are set to resume, the next step for workers at the Greeley plant is expected to include review of JBS’s offer and a vote, with both sides describing the renewed negotiations as the key phase following the walkout.