JBS Workers Begin 2 Week Unfair Labor Practice Strike Against JBS
Nearly 3,800 JBS-owned Swift Beef workers in Greeley, Colorado represented by UFCW Local 7 took to the picket lines today protesting unfair negotiating tactics and unlawful reprisals.
Greeley, CO – United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 members at Greeley’s Swift Beef Company, owned by JBS N.V. began a two week Unfair Labor Practice Strike at 5:30 a.m. on Monday, March 16, 2026. Workers will remain out on the picket lines until JBS comes to the table to negotiate fairly with workers and rights its unlawful union busting.
In February, after months of negotiations, workers voted overwhelmingly to authorize an unfair labor practice strike against JBS as a result of the Company’s refusal to negotiate fairly with workers and fix the company’s pattern of wage theft, provide raises to workers that keep pace with the rising cost of living in Colorado, and ensure stable health care costs for workers. Instead of shifting toward fair treatment, the Company has recently doubled down on its illegal tactics by threatening workers with termination if they did not resign from the Union and refuse to strike. These recent actions come on top of a pattern of retaliatory conduct against a member of the bargaining committee and others who have spoken out against the Company.
UFCW Local 7 President Kim Cordova, the Union’s chief spokesperson, stated, “For months now, JBS has been insisting on poverty-level wages for workers at the plant, offering less than 2% in average annual wage increases, far below the level of inflation in Colorado, while at the same time putting all the risk of rising healthcare costs on workers. Meanwhile, despite being the world’s largest protein producer, JBS has been stealing from workers’ paychecks to fund the Company’s profits. JBS must do right by these workers and negotiate lawfully. Make no mistake, JBS chose this strike in an effort to lower worker wages nationwide, just as the Company has squeezed entire communities of ranchers across this country.”
In January, JBS and other large meatpackers paid a reported $200 million to resolve allegations that the companies had unlawfully conspired to suppress wages in beef processing nationwide. This settlement comes on top of other multi-million-dollar settlements in suits brought against the Company by farmers, ranchers, and customers.
JBS workers perform some of the most difficult and dangerous jobs in the country. They deserve wage increases that keep pace with inflation, ensure they receive healthcare commensurate with the toll this work takes on their bodies, and that allow them to live with dignity and respect. Instead, JBS has been charging many workers $1,100 or more in order to offset the Company’s expenses for life-saving personal protective equipment needed to ensure worker safety.
“We want to be treated like human beings. We will not be intimidated, retaliated against, or suffer in silence. We work very hard, in difficult conditions, and want JBS to negotiate fairly for a contract that will allow us to live with dignity. We will stand together on the picket line until JBS recognizes our value and treats us fairly,” said Deborah Rodarte, an inside skirt cutter in JBS’s Greeley plant.
Workers had offered to meet with JBS this weekend in an effort to avoid a strike, but the Company refused to meet with workers. JBS’s corporate leadership is apparently not serious about reaching an agreement that works for its workers.
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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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