Workers at a Swift Beef Co. meatpacking plant in Greeley, Colorado, agreed to halt a three-week strike and return to work Tuesday morning after JBS USA agreed to resume negotiations later in the week, labor representatives said Saturday.
The walkout involved thousands of workers at the plant and began March 16 in coordination with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, according to the union’s statements and labor-management comments reported in the days leading up to the agreement. MSI previously reported that the walkout neared its third week while talks stalled.
Union officials said in a statement that employees will return to work Tuesday morning after the company’s commitment to reopen talks later in the week. Local union president Kim Cordova said in the statement that “Workers remain united and will continue to fight,” signaling that negotiations over wages and health care were not resolved by the strike pause.
JBS USA spokesperson Nikki Richardson said the company is “preparing to resume and ramp up operations at the Greeley plant next week.” She added that “Our Last, Best and Final offer remains on the table,” and said the company hopes employees will be able to review and vote on it soon, though she did not provide the offer’s terms in the email.
The strike was launched as a bid for higher wages and better health care. Union officials framed the walkout as a response to alleged retaliation and other unfair labor practices at Swift Beef Co., and they said the company tried to intimidate workers in one-on-one meetings aimed at getting them to quit the union.
Matt Shechter, the union’s general counsel, said the company’s approach was designed to discourage union membership. JBS USA has denied any labor law violations and said its contract offer is fair.
The work stoppage drew attention beyond Greeley partly because of broader pressures on the U.S. beef supply chain. The strike coincided with a decline in U.S. cattle numbers to a 75-year low this year, a drop driven in part by drought and low prices offered to ranchers, even as beef prices rose to record levels, intensifying economic anxiety.
Industry and academic observers said an extended strike could disrupt the supply of slaughtered beef and contribute to higher prices. Abby Greiman, a livestock market adviser for industry consultant Ever.Ag., said the Greeley plant accounts for about 6% of total U.S. beef slaughterhouse capacity. Jennifer Martin, a Colorado State University animal sciences department professor, said prolonged action threatened to disrupt the industry and potentially drive prices higher.
Historically, the Greeley strike is being treated as unusually rare in modern times. The strike at the Colorado plant is the first strike at a U.S. slaughterhouse since workers walked out at a Hormel plant in Minnesota in 1985, a stoppage that lasted more than a year and included violent confrontations between police and protesters.
The timing also intersects with other recent meatpacking disruptions. The Colorado walkout followed the January closure of a meatpacking plant in Lexington, Nebraska, which was expected to ripple through the local economy, with Tyson Foods citing the smaller herd and millions of dollars in expected losses.