The first sanctioned walkout at a major American meatpacking plant in decades appears to be unfolding in Northern Colorado. It’s happening during a particularly tense moment for U.S. immigration policies.
The workers at Greeley’s JBS meatpacking plant voted overwhelmingly last week to move forward with the strike. The workforce there, which is made up of a large number of Haitian refugees, are pushing for safer working conditions. The strike could begin in the next few days.
The vote took place within days of a ruling by a U.S. District Court judge last week that halted plans to revoke the Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for thousands of Haitian refugees in the United States.
Reporter Ted Genoways covered the situation for Mother Jones and the Food & Environment Reporting Network. He joined Erin O’Toole to discuss his reporting on the strike vote and the tenuous status of many of the refugee workers involved.
After this interview was recorded, KUNC News received a statement from JBS, saying the company “has presented a comprehensive offer that reflects the national agreement reached with [the union] UFCW International and accepted at our other large processing facilities throughout the U.S.”
Ted has appeared on In The NoCo previously to discuss his investigation into the lives of immigrant JBS workers in Greeley and the dangerous work they do.
