Food Prices and Agriculture

Thousands of workers at JBS USA’s Swift Beef Co. plant in Greeley, Colorado, one of the largest meatpacking facilities in the country, will end a three‑week strike and return to work Tuesday after the company agreed to restart contract negotiations, union leaders said Saturday. The walkout, coordinated by United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 since March 16, sought higher wages and better health care and was triggered by what the union called retaliatory tactics and unfair labor practices by management; JBS has denied any violations and insists its contract offer is fair. JBS spokesperson Nikki Richardson said the company is preparing to ramp operations back up and that its "Last, Best and Final" offer remains on the table, though terms were not disclosed. The Greeley plant represents about 6% of total U.S. beef slaughter capacity, so an extended shutdown risked further tightening supplies at a time when U.S. cattle numbers are at a 75‑year low and beef prices are already at record highs, intensifying pressure on consumers. Labor economists and agriculture analysts are watching closely as this first U.S. slaughterhouse strike since Hormel’s 1985 walkout becomes a test case for how far meatpacking workers can push for gains in a concentrated industry dominated by firms like JBS and Tyson.