The Daily Populous Monday March 16th, 2026 evening edition
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GREELEY, Colo. (AP) — About 3,800 workers at one of the nation’s largest meatpacking plants began striking Monday in Colorado in what union representatives said was the first walkout at a U.S. beef slaughterhouse in four decades.

Hundreds of strikers picketed outside the Swift Beef Co. plant in Greeley, owned by JBS USA, as the sun rose Monday. They walked back in forth in the morning cold, bundled in blankets, while some yelled “huelga!” — Spanish for “strike.” Others carried signs saying “please don’t patronize JBS,” written in both English and Spanish.

The strike follows accusations from union officials that the company retaliated against workers and committed other unfair labor practices amid contract negotiations.

A spokesperson at JBS USA said Monday that the company stood by its contract offer, describing it as fair and blaming the union for ending negotiations. Union officials alleged the company refused a request to negotiate over the weekend before their contract ended Sunday night.

“They don’t really value their workers and we’re the ones that help them get all their profit,” said Leticia Avalos, a 34-year-old union steward and Greeley native who has been working at the plant since 2020.

AP AUDIO: 3,800 workers are on strike at one of the largest meatpacking plants in the US AP correspondent Julie Walker reports 3,800 workers are on strike at one of the largest meatpacking plants in the US.

Avalos said she depends on the job to support her family including a 6-month-old baby, but she’s willing to make sacrifices to get the company to listen.

Dangerous work and wages that don’t match inflation

The union says its workers perform some of the most difficult and dangerous jobs in the country, and deserve higher wages and better healthcare. It said JBS in many cases has charged workers $1,100 or more to offset the company’s expenses for personal protective equipment needed to ensure worker safety. And it said the company has offered less than 2% annual wage increases, below inflation in Colorado.

Smoke rose from parts of the plant Monday but it was unclear if it was fully operating. JBS spokesperson Nikki Richardson said “many team members” reported to work, but did not provide a precise number.

“Our team members want stability, they want to support their families, and they deserved the opportunity to vote on the company’s historic offer — an opportunity the union leadership has denied them,” Richardson wrote in an email.

A federal probe into soaring beef prices

The strike comes at a 75-year low in the numbers of U.S. cattle, with a Jan. 1 inventory of 86.2 million animals — down 1% from the prior year.

President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Brazil, a major beef exporter, have also curbed imports. Pressed to act on “affordability” issues after Republican losses last November, Trump accused foreign-owned companies of driving up U.S. beef prices and asked the Department of Justice to investigate.

Meanwhile beef prices have soared to record levels in part after drought and years of low prices offered to ranchers led to the smallest U.S. herd size in decades.

The price for 100% ground chuck beef more than doubled over the past two decades from $2.55 to $6.07 per pound, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The increase has added to economic anxiety in the U.S. The Trump administration has promoted a trade deal with Argentina in efforts to lower prices for food, including beef.

The strike follows the January closure of a meatpacking plant in Lexington, Nebraska, which was expected to ripple through the local economy and community. Tyson Foods cited the smaller herd and millions of dollars in expected losses this year.

JBS, the world’s largest meatpacker, has a market capitalization of $17 billion on the New York Stock Exchange after being approved for trading last May, despite environmental opposition and a federal probe that led to its guilty plea in October to bribing Brazilian officials for the financing it used for its U.S. expansion.

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.

The company said Monday that it fully complies with federal and state labor and employment laws. Richardson said any employee who didn’t want to strike would have work and be paid. The company had said leading up to the strike that it would operate two shifts at the plant Monday and temporarily move production as needed to other JBS facilities.

Kim Cordova, president of the United Food and Commercial Union Local 7, said 99% of workers voted to authorize the strike.

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.

JBS is the top employer in Greeley, a city 50 miles northeast of Denver with a population of about 114,000 people.

“It’s a huge impact in the community for us to be striking,” said union steward Avalos. “I know a lot of us are worried, and hope that nothing goes even more south.”

Brown reported from Billings, Mont. With contributions from Morgan Lee in Santa Fe, New Mexico; Colleen Slevin in Denver and Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire.

Far_Radish7752 on March 16th, 2026 at 13:47 UTC »

From the article in AP News:

> GREELEY, Colo. (AP) — About 3,800 workers at one of the nation’s largest meatpacking plants went on strike Monday in Colorado in what union representatives said is the first walkout at a U.S. beef slaughterhouse in four decades.

> The strike at the Swift Beef Co. plant in Greeley began Monday morning, said Claire Poundstone, an attorney representing workers with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7. Poundstone said she expected workers to participate in the strike line through the evening.

> We’ll be here all day,” she said.

> The strike follows accusations from union officials that owner JBS USA retaliated against workers and committed other unfair labor practices amid contract negotiations. A previous contract expired Sunday night.

> A message was sent early Monday seeking an updated comment from a spokesperson at JBS USA.

> The union said in a news release that its workers “perform some of the most difficult and dangerous jobs in the country.”

Dad_Bod_Supreme on March 16th, 2026 at 12:55 UTC »

I stand with the workers of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 and against the exploitation of labor in all of its forms!

Capital-Control308 on March 16th, 2026 at 12:49 UTC »

Hope they get what they want