Colorado JBS Meatpacking Workers Win Raises After First U.S. Slaughterhouse Strike Since 1985

Thousands of workers at the Swift Beef Co. meatpacking plant in Greeley, Colorado — one of the nation’s largest slaughterhouses and owned by JBS USA — have reached a tentative contract with the company after a three‑week strike for higher pay and better benefits, the union and employer announced Sunday. The deal, which allows the plant to immediately resume normal operations, includes wage increases over the next two years and a $750 one‑time bonus, along with company-paid personal protective equipment and protections against increases in health‑care costs, according to United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7. Union president Kim Cordova called the agreement "all gains" with "not a single concession" and said members picketed through extreme weather "because they knew their worth and refused to be disrespected." JBS USA, while saying it is pleased to restore stability, criticized the union’s move to eliminate a pension benefit negotiated last year, arguing it weakens long‑term retirement security in favor of short‑term wage gains, and noted that seven unfair‑labor‑practice charges will be withdrawn. The strike — the first at a U.S. slaughterhouse since the long and bitter 1985 Hormel walkout in Minnesota — is already drawing national labor attention as a potential bellwether for organizing and contract fights in the meatpacking sector, a low‑wage but critical link in the U.S. food supply.