US: Strike by over 3,000 JBS workers in Colorado enters third week & union alleges company is unwilling to negotiate; incl. co. comment
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"Immigrant Workers in Colorado Lead “Historic Strike” at JBS, Largest U.S. Meat Processor", 01 April 2026
...More than 3,000 meatpacking workers in Greeley, Colorado, have been on strike since mid-March, the first major labor strike in the U.S. meatpacking industry since 1985. Workers at JBS USA, the U.S. subsidiary of Brazilian-based multinational JBS, are protesting unfair and dangerous labor conditions, including low wages, lack of personal protective gear and discrimination against its majority-immigrant workforce.
“This company is one of the richest companies in the world, and the wage increases that they’re offering simply just don’t keep up with the economy and the high cost of living,” says Kim Cordova, president of the union that represents JBS workers in Greeley. “These workers literally feed America,” adds organizer Caitlyn Clark, director at the labor rights nonprofit Essential Workers for Democracy. “This is really a historic strike. These workers are standing up not just for their own plant, but the meatpacking industry as a whole”...
This workforce is made up of workers that speak around 57 different languages from all over the world, doing this really important work, feeding our communities, our country and, in fact, the entire world...
So, what’s happening is, is that JBS is keeping a very low inventory of personal protective equipment. So, when workers are hired, they’re either provided initially with equipment that may be used, damaged, doesn’t fit them. And if you are maybe a size large, and they give you a 5X, it’s easy to get ripped. They’re working with — at a fast pace, with sharp equipment, disassembling a very large animal. So, if something happens to your equipment, and it’s stolen, it’s damaged, it doesn’t fit you, your check is being garnished to replace that equipment. And some workers are working with damaged equipment because they can’t afford the garnishment, which puts our members’ lives at risk...
"A company spokesperson told The New York Times that the union had rejected a contract offering ‘higher wages, a secure pension and long-term financial stability’.
According to her, JBS was redirecting meat production to other plants with spare capacity".