GREELEY — Some workers among the thousands striking at the JBS meatpacking plant in Greeley on Monday said they were doing so because they’re routinely exposed to on-the-job risk, including being forced to use dull knives that increase the odds of the blade slipping and cutting them, and wearing clothing on the line with holes in the protective steel mesh.
But “many” JBS employees chose to go to work instead of striking, said Nikki Richardson, a company spokesperson, because “they want stability, they want to support their families,” even as the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 union “denied them the opportunity” to vote on an “historic offer” of better pay and benefits. JBS did not say how many workers showed up to the two shifts the beef processor runs each day.
The JBS plant in Greeley employs 3,800 people and in early February, 99% of them authorized the union to strike. The strike on Monday started at 5:30 a.m. and around an hour later, 800 UFCW Local 7 members had checked in to join the picket line, according to union officials.
Among them was Deborah Rodarte, a JBS employee who works on the production line cutting skirt steaks from the estimated 420 head of cattle JBS processes every hour.
The knives used for her job are so sharp they can slice through bone. But when they’re dull, they can be even more dangerous. That’s because dull knives require 25% to 63% more force to cut, which increases the risk of the blade slipping and causing severe lacerations, according to Science Direct, an online tool for scientific, technical and medical research. “But when I’ve had issues with my knives, I couldn’t get them switched out,” Rodarte said, referring to her supervisors denying her requests.
She also said she’s seen JBS officials refuse to let people leave the production line to use the bathroom. And she said they failed to replace one of her coworker’s protective mesh tunics after a section covering her chest ripped and was no longer protecting her heart.
“She worked like that for a year, maybe two, and they wouldn’t switch it out,” Rodarte said. When she tried, they would say, “we don’t have your size, or we don’t have any in stock.”
These stories align with JBS’ history of attracting unwanted attention about its workforce, including when hundreds of workers at the Greeley plant contracted coronavirus and six died, and when the U.S. Department of Labor found that a JBS cleaning-service contractor employed minors as young as 13 at several plants, including in Greeley.
But Richardson contested Rodarte’s claims about safety.
“Team members can leave the line for approved and necessary reasons, including using the restroom, without disrupting operations,” she said.
JBS provides newly sharpened knives to workers frequently throughout the day, “and they’re upgrading all knives across the plant to industry-leading Victorinox knives,” she added.
And the largest meatpacking company in the country provides personal protective equipment to all team members at no cost to the worker, she said.
“Our policy is — and has long been — that team members are only responsible for paying for personal protective equipment if the equipment is lost or maliciously damaged. When PPE wears out through normal use, the company replaces it at no cost to our team members. This policy has been in place, and part of the collective bargaining agreement in Greeley, for nearly 25 years.”
By 4:30 p.m. on Monday, the number of workers who’d checked in to strike outside the plant had risen to more than 2,700.
Meanwhile Richardson said any employee who reports for their scheduled shift at JBS will have work available and will be paid.
That could be tricky if JBS and the union can’t come to an agreement, the strike continues and JBS keeps pushing its Greeley production to other states.
Kim Cordova, president of UFCW Local 7, said the union’s goal remains to reach a collective bargaining agreement in which JBS pays workers fair wages, improves labor standards and makes working there safer,
But JBS said “the offer we presented to Local 7 is strong, competitive and aligned with the historic national agreement reached in 2025 with UFCW International — an agreement that has already delivered meaningful wage increases, a secure pension, and long‑term financial stability for more than 25,000 JBS team members across the country. Local 7’s refusal to allow a vote prevents Greeley employees from having a direct say in their own future.”