Workers went on strike Monday morning at the JBS plant in Greeley, taking a months-long saga for better pay and safer working conditions to the picket lines. Hundreds gathered just outside the Greeley plant to rally with signs and megaphones.
“The labor that they're doing and intimidation is unfair. It’s not right. They need to treat us like human beings. We’re not slaves,” Anthony Martinez said. He's worked for JBS for eight years.
The union representing workers had been negotiating with JBS over a new contract. They walked away from talks last week, fed up with the company’s standing offer.
"We definitely need more pay. We work hard and we deserve to be respected and appreciated, and without us, the company can't run,” worker Jennifer Lynn said.
Lynn is hopeful the strike will only last a week, but with both sides still far apart, it could go on longer.
Possible trouble for the beef market
The Greeley plant is one of the largest meatpacking facilities in the country. On a normal day, it processes thousands of cows. JBS halted operations at the plant last week to prepare for the strike. This week, it's adjusting cattle deliveries to try and avoid disruptions to the beef market.
"The trickle-down effects of a processor not receiving cattle for harvest impact the entire supply chain," said Jennifer Martin, an associate professor and meat extension specialist at Colorado State University.
Martin says a beef backlog would hit feed lots first, then Colorado ranchers and producers.
"All of this is happening at a moment in time in the beef supply chain when there's an immense amount of strain. We have a small cow herd, we have really high cattle prices," she said.
Martin notes the beef industry should be able to absorb some of the lost capacity at the Greeley plant, but not for long.
The Colorado Cattlemen's Association previous told KUNC they're seeing cattle redirected to other packing plants in surrounding states. According to our partners at KUER, a JBS plant in Utah called in 1400 workers Saturday to process cattle diverted from Colorado.
Contract stalemate
JBS has maintained that their offer to workers is strong and consistent with other large meatpacking facilities. The company accused the union of "weaponizing confusion and intimidation" to get workers to strike in a letter to UFCW Local 7 ahead of the strike.
The union, meanwhile, says workers are due more compensation for such a dangerous job. At the picket line, 10-year JBS employee Anthony Rodriguez said he never thought he'd be part of a work stoppage.
“They usually have been pretty fair with the contracts, but it’s getting so expensive and they need to step it up a little bit,” Rodriguez said.
JBS officials say the company is working toward a fair resolution of the strike.