Thousands of striking employees will return to work at the JBS meatpacking plant in Greeley next week after the company agreed to return to the negotiating table, union officials announced Saturday evening.
United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 members will begin returning to their jobs at 5 a.m. Tuesday, the union said.
The strike at one of the country’s largest meatpacking plants had been set to enter its fourth week after 3,800 JBS workers walked off the job on March 16, which union officials said was due to JBS’s refusal to increase minimum wages and the company’s unfair labor practices during contract negotiations.
JBS officials have pushed back on the union’s claims, stating union leaders are the ones who left the negotiating table and that the company made “meaningful movement” during negotiations.
In a Saturday news release, UFCW Local 7 President Kim Cordova said JBS agreed to meet on Thursday and Friday to resume negotiations. The facility, also known by its subsidiary name, Swift Beef Company, processes as much as 8% of the country’s beef.
“Workers remain united and will continue to fight until JBS fully ends its unfair labor practices and gives workers a contract offer that protects them, shows workers the respect they deserve, and pays them a livable wage,” Cordova said in a statement.
JBS USA spokesperson Nikki Richardson said the company is “preparing to resume and ramp up operations at the Greeley plant next week.”
“Our Last, Best and Final offer remains on the table,” Richardson said in an email that did not include terms. “We hope employees will have the opportunity to review and vote on it soon.”
The three-week strike marked the first walkout at an American meatpacking plant in four decades and the first walkout at the Greeley plant.
JBS is the world’s largest meatpacking company with a market capitalization of $17 billion. It is the top employer in Greeley.
The strike at Greeley was launched on accusations by union officials that management at Swift Beef Co. retaliated against workers and committed other unfair labor practices.
The union said the company had offered less than 2% more a year in wages, which is less than inflation in Colorado. JBS USA has denied any labor law violations and said its contract offer was fair.
The Greeley plant has about 6% of the total U.S. beef slaughterhouse capacity, said Abby Greiman, a livestock market adviser for industry consultant Ever.Ag.
An extended strike threatened to disrupt the industry, which could ultimately drive up prices, said Jennifer Martin at Colorado State University’s animal sciences department.
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 Colorado walkout followed 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 shares were approved for trading on the New York Stock Exchange 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, union officials said the company tried to intimidate workers to quit the union in one-on-one meetings, union general counsel Matt Shechter said.
