Denver Processing Workers Overwhelmingly Vote to Authorize Unfair Labor Practice Strike
Denver, CO – In a decisive show of unity and resolve, union workers at Denver Processing have voted overwhelmingly to authorize an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike against their employer, empowering UFCW Local 7 leadership to call a strike in response to the company’s ongoing illegal conduct at and away from the bargaining table. Denver Processing is a case ready beef and pork processing plant, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of JBS USA, the world’s largest meat processing company. Denver Processing workers process meat products for Kroger stores throughout the Southwestern United States, including King Soopers and City Market stores in Colorado, Fry’s Food and Drug Stores in Arizona, and Ralphs Grocery Company in California.
Following a vote meeting involving workers from all shifts at the Denver Processing meatpacking facility, 97% of union members voted to authorize the strike. The vote sends an unmistakable message: workers are prepared to take immediate and serious action if Denver Processing continues to violate federal labor law and prevent workers from securing a fair contract. The timing of any strike will be determined at a later date.
UFCW Local 7 has filed multiple Unfair Labor Practice charges against Denver Processing stemming from two categories of illegal conduct. First, the company engaged in interference and retaliation by issuing discipline to a bargaining committee member for attending bargaining sessions on behalf of their fellow workers — protected activity under federal law. Second, Denver Processing has engaged in bad-faith and surface bargaining by repeatedly stalling negotiations, failing to respond to the union’s proposals on key safety and work-life balance issues, and rushing to declare a final offer before meaningful bargaining could occur. When pressed, the company’s own bargaining representative acknowledged that he lacked the authority to bargain over the terms at issue and that those with authority were unavailable during scheduled sessions — conduct that forced a halt to progress at the table. JBS’s unlawful conduct began accelerating after workers at the JBS-owned Swift Beef Company plant in Greeley voted to strike in February 2026.
“This strike authorization is the direct result of Denver Processing’s unlawful and bad-faith conduct,” said Kim Cordova, President of UFCW Local 7. “We came to the table ready to negotiate a fair contract. Instead, Denver Processing wasted our time, retaliated against our committee members, and refused to seriously engage with our proposals on safety and scheduling,” said Natalia Gonzalez, a Denver Processing worker and UFCW Local 7 member. “Our members are united, and we are prepared to do what is necessary to hold this company accountable.”
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Local 7, is the largest private-sector Union in Colorado and Wyoming. It is affiliated with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union which represents over 1.3 million workers in the United States and Canada, one of the largest private-sector Unions in North America. UFCW members work in a wide range of industries, including retail food, food processing, agriculture, retail sales, and health care.
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