In mid-March nearly 4,000 workers organized through United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 7 walked off the job after contract talks stalled over wages, safety concerns, and alleged anti-union practices.
The recent strike at the JBS meatpacking plant in Greeley, Colorado drew national attention to the realities of labor exploitation within the industrial food system. After three weeks walking the picket line, workers agreed to a two-year contract, securing some gains while leaving fundamental tensions unresolved.
Demands reflect the material pressures facing working-class families: wages that keep pace with rising living costs, meaningful protections against workplace injury, and respect for the right to organize without retaliation. Workers describe intense production speeds, hazardous conditions, and declining real wages despite the enormous profits generated by the global meat industry.
Greeley was the first major U.S. meatpacking strike in roughly four decades. It took place at a facility owned by JBS, a Brazilian-based multinational corporation and one of the largest meat producers in the world. The Greeley workforce is overwhelmingly immigrant, with workers from dozens of countries laboring in one of the most dangerous sectors of U.S. manufacturing. “They hire a lot of folks that are seeking asylum, Temporary Protected Status, work authorization,” said Kim Cordova, president of the local UFCW chapter.
The historic action exposes how corporate consolidation concentrates wealth while shifting risk onto workers’ bodies, particularly immigrants who often face language barriers, precarious status, and fear of retaliation. These workers demonstrate the power of multiracial, multilingual solidarity in confronting transnational capital.
While the new contract stabilizes labor relations for now, workers and organizers are already looking toward the next bargaining cycle. The Greeley strike shows that even in highly consolidated industries, organized labor can challenge exploitation and assert human dignity through collective struggle.
