The union representing 3,800 JBS USA employees claimed victory Sunday after 93% of Greeley members ratified a new two-year contract with one of the largest beef processors in the world.
Workers had sought better pay and benefits, better working conditions and reimbursement for worn-out or damaged protective gear, which can cost hundreds of dollars, according to negotiators at United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7. The company and union had been negotiating for eight months before the union called for a strike.
Thousands of employees who work for the JBS-owned Swift Beef Company plant in Greeley, walked off the job on March 16, protesting unfair labor practices. After three weeks negotiations with JBS resumed and the union halted the strike. Workers agreed to return to their jobs, though the plant needed time to ramp back up to full production. Greeley workers process cattle into cuts of meat that end up on dinner tables nationwide.
“These workers stood together on the picket line for three weeks … because they knew their worth and refused to be disrespected. Today, that sacrifice has been rewarded,” Kim Cordova, president of UFCW Local 7, said in a news release Sunday.
As part of the agreement with JBS, the union agreed to withdraw seven unfair labor practice claims filed with the National Labor Relations Board. The union also said that the new agreement provides“secured wage increases over the next 2 years some 33% higher,” than what JBS offered before the strike.
But JBS officials said the wage increases “reflects the same economic framework JBS USA presented in its Last, Best and Final offer,” spokesperson Nikki Richardson said in a news release.
The company also will keep the legacy 401(k) plan, but Richardson said Swift was disappointed that workers had no interest in the pension plan offered to JBS beef facility workers nationwide — a contract term reached with other JBS meatpacking unions last year.
“The company is relieved to move forward and restore stability for team members. At the same time, JBS USA strongly disagrees with Local 7 leadership’s decision to forgo the historic pension that was secured for workers at other major JBS facilities across the country,” according to a company statement.
The new contract, which runs from July 21, 2025 to April 2028, adds a 70 cent hourly increase starting in July, then raises wages 40 cents per hour in each of the following two years. That’s 10 cents more per hour than the company’s last offer before workers went on strike.
The agreement does not include retroactive pay from the time the contract expired in July.
Cordova said while there is no retroactive pay, JBS agreed to a one-time $750 bonus at ratification and a one-time $500 payment to workers in April 2027. Adding that all up was equivalent to the double-digit rate increases.
She said union also opposed terms of the proposed pension plan, saying it would have made it worse for workers, who would have lost their company match on the 401(k) plans. Plus, she said, the contract at other JBS plants nationwide added a pension plan but also increased health care costs.
The new Greeley agreement caps health care costs, adds more vacation days and requires the company to pay for personal protective equipment — and reimburse employees whose wages have been garnished in the past to pay for replacement protective gear, Cordova said.
“The contract is significantly different,” from the company’s last offer, Cordova said. “It is material.”