JBS’ union workers vote to authorize strike

GREELEY — Union workers at the JBS meatpacking facility in Greeley have voted to authorize a strike over what they say are unfair labor practices.

Following a daylong meeting involving workers from all shifts at the plant, 99% of the unionized workers voted to empower the leadership of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 to call a strike over what a news release called “the company’s ongoing illegal conduct at the bargaining table and inside the plant.”

JBS is a wholly owned subsidiary of Brazil-based JBS S.A., the world’s largest processor of beef and pork with more than $50 billion in annual sales.

In a comment sent to KCNC-TV Channel 4 in Denver late Wednesday, JBS said it has presented a comprehensive offer with meaningful wage increases and a pension plan. In the statement, it said it remains “hopeful that the local union will choose to move forward with this agreement so we can continue focusing on providing good-paying jobs.”

According to the union news release, “the vote sends an unmistakable message: Workers are prepared to take immediate and serious action if JBS continues to violate federal labor law and prevent workers from securing a fair contract. The timing of any strike will be determined at a later date.”

“This strike authorization is the direct result of JBS’s unlawful and bad-faith conduct,” Kim Cordova, president of UFCW Local 7, said in a prepared statement. “Over the course of bargaining for a new contract, the union has filed multiple Unfair Labor Practice charges against JBS. These range from regressive bargaining to threats to withhold a proposed bonus and lump-sum pension payment if workers exercise their democratic right to strike, to illegal intimidation and retaliation against workers and bargaining committee members.

“This vote reflects the seriousness of this moment,” Cordova said. “JBS can either return to the bargaining table prepared to negotiate in good faith and immediately cease its unfair labor practices, or it can face the consequences of its own decisions. JBS is the world’s largest protein producer. JBS has their corporate offices here, and the Greeley plant is their flagship location and largest feed-beef plant in the United States. It can afford to follow the law, respect its workforce, and negotiate fairly. If it chooses not to, our members are prepared to take lawful, protected action to defend themselves. Our members are united, organized, and ready.”

UFCW Local 7 represents 22,000 union workers across Colorado and Wyoming. Approximately 3,800 workers are employed at JBS. The union’s contract with JBS expired last July.

“We have been bargaining for eight months and JBS has prevented us from reaching a contract as a result of their unfair labor practices,” said Leticia Avalos, a JBS worker, in the news release. “They continue to increase chain speeds and create dangerous working conditions, all while reducing hours for workers. At the same time, the company is insisting on being able to steal workers’ pay through improper wage deductions. JBS has left us no alternative but to authorize a strike. Enough is enough.”

Editor’s note: This is a developing story.

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