Workers at one of the country’s largest meatpacking plants who organized a Multi-week strike The company has reached an agreement with the plant’s owner, JBS USA, the company and labor union representatives announced Sunday.
JBS USA said in a statement that the Swift Beef Co. plant… In Greeley, Colorado, it will immediately return to normal operations after weeks of uncertainty.
The agreement comes after thousands of workers at the meat processing plant led a three-week strike with the local United Food and Commercial Workers union in an effort to raise wages and improve health care. Strike It ended on April 4 after JBS USA agreed to resume negotiations.
The workers and JBS USA agreed to pay increases over the next two years and a one-time $750 bonus. The union said that the initial agreement represents a contract that “includes all the gains and countless improvements, and not a single concession.”
The contract requires the company to pay for personal protective equipment and defends workers against increases in health care costs, according to the union.
Local union president Kim Cordova said the workers picketed during the harsh weather “because they knew their worth and refused to be disrespected. Today, that sacrifice has been rewarded.”
“This is what union power looks like,” Cordova said in the statement.
The union did not immediately respond to AP requests for more details.
JBS USA said it was pleased an agreement had been reached, but expressed disappointment that union leadership chose to cancel the retirement benefits negotiated last year. The company said the pension is intended to enhance long-term retirement security, and said the union chose to funnel those dollars into short-term pay increases rather than toward workers’ long-term financial future.
The union will also withdraw seven alleged charges of unfair labor practices, according to JBS USA.
“With the agreement now finalized, JBS USA looks forward to restoring stability, supporting its workforce, and continuing to invest in the Greeley facility for the future,” the company said in its statement.
The strike in Greeley was the first at a U.S. slaughterhouse since workers walked out at a Hormel plant in Minnesota in 1985. It lasted more than a year It was characterized by violent confrontations between police and demonstrators.
JBS is the world’s largest meat packer with a market cap of $17 billion. It is the largest employer in Greeley, a city 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Denver with a population of about 114,000.