Nearly 3,800 JBS unionized meatpackers in Greeley plan to strike March 16

Source: Colorado Sun

They’ve been working on an expired contract for eight months. JBS officials accused the union of not sharing the company’s latest offer with workers.

Tamara Chuang 5:57 PM MDT on Mar 9, 2026

Nearly 3,800 meatpackers at the JBS plant in Greeley plan to walk off the job March 16 after eight months of contract negotiations reached an impasse Friday, labor union officials said.

JBS employees have been working on an extension of the expired contract since July. Last week, the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 bargaining committee voted to end the extension, which expires at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, clearing the way for workers to strike.

The disagreements are over wages and reimbursement of protective gear, which can cost hundreds of dollars, said Kim Cordova, president of UFCW Local 7. The company’s proposal to raise wages by 60 cents an hour in the first year and 30 cents annually for the next two years is similar to a national agreement JBS made with unions in other states last year.

“They are trying to suppress wages within the industry,” Cordova said Monday. “They’re trying to force us to take the national agreement. … But the health care costs increased 22 cents an hour (so) those folks got an 8-cent increase. That’s not gonna work for us.”


A worker heads into the JBS meatpacking plant in Greeley in fall 2020. Packers Sanitation Services Inc., or PSSI, one of the country's largest food safety cleaning service providers employed more than 100 children as young as 13 in dangerous jobs at 13 meat processing plants in eight states, including JBS, the U.S. Department of Labor said Friday. (David Zalubowski, AP Photo, File)

Read more: https://coloradosun.com/2026/03/09/jbs-meatpackers-greeley-walk-out-strike/