Around 3,800 workers at one of the United States' largest meatpacking facilities were poised to strike on Monday morning in Colorado, marking what union representatives described as the first walkout at a US beef slaughterhouse since the 1980s.
The industrial action at the Swift Beef Co. plant in Greeley was scheduled to commence at 5.30am MDT, according to Kim Cordova, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, which represents the employees.
This follows allegations from union officials that owner JBS USA retaliated against workers and engaged in other unfair labour practices during ongoing contract negotiations, with a previous agreement expiring at midnight on Sunday.
This impending strike unfolds against a backdrop of a 75-year low in the US cattle population, with a 1 January inventory showing 86.2 million animals – a 1 per cent decrease from the previous year.
Rising beef prices have exacerbated economic anxieties across the US, prompting the administration of Donald Trump to pursue a trade deal with Argentina in an effort to mitigate food costs, including those for beef.
The situation also follows the closure of a meatpacking plant in Lexington, Nebraska, in January, an event anticipated to have significant ripple effects throughout its local economy and community.
At the Greeley plant, the company tried to intimidate workers to quit the union in one-on-one meetings, union general counsel Matt Shechter said.
Cordova said 99 per cent of workers voted to authorize the strike. No formal negotiations took place over the weekend after the company refused a union request to negotiate on Saturday, Shechter said.
JBS USA said in statement that any employee who didn’t want to strike would have work and be paid. The company said it would operate two shifts at the plant Monday and would temporarily move production as needed to other JBS facilities.
The statement said the company operates in full compliance with federal and state labor and employment laws.
“Our goal is to minimize impact to our customers, our partners, and the broader marketplace while we work toward a fair resolution in Greeley,” the company said.
It's the first strike at a U.S. slaughterhouse since workers walked out at a Hormel plant in Minnesota in 1985, Cordova said. That strike lasted more than a year and included violent confrontations between police and protesters, according to the Minnesota Historical Society.
