Dive Brief:
- Workers present for a recent meeting at JBS' beef-processing facility in Greeley, CO, voted by a 99% majority to authorize a strike.
- The move follows months of negotiations between a local of the United Food and Commercial Workers union and the Brazilian meat company.
- The 3,000 workers in Greeley have been without a contract since August of last year. JBS, which is the largest meat-producing company on earth, wants workers to bear a larger portion of their healthcare costs.
Dive Insight:
It's deja vu all over again for JBS. The meat company went through this same process just a few weeks ago with workers at its pork plant in Worthington, MN.
When workers there voted to authorize a strike, JBS returned to the bargaining table in short order with a contract that seemed to be a major victory for the union. That contract could serve as a template for Greeley and JBS' four other unionized plants in the U.S. We'll have to wait to see if JBS agrees.
