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JBS reaches deal with U.S. meatpacking workers who went on strike

Reuters, Tom Polansek — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 21:15:59 +0000

JBS employees ratified a two-year labor agreement with the world’s largest meatpacker after a three-week strike disrupted operations at a massive beef processing plant in Greeley, Colorado, the company and union representing the workers said.

The agreement, announced on Sunday, will allow JBS to resume normal operations at the plant at a time when beef prices have set record highs due to strong demand from consumers and historically low U.S. cattle supplies.

JBS and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 7 union resumed negotiations last week after nearly 3,800 employees went on strike to press for higher wages and a halt to company charges for replacing protective equipment. The union said it was the first time U.S. meatpacking workers had gone on strike in four decades.

“The strike worked,” Kim Cordova, president of UFCW Local 7, said on Monday.

The agreement secures wage increases over the next two years that were about 33 per cent higher than JBS offered in a pre-strike offer, according to the union. The deal also protects workers from having to pay for personal protective equipment and safeguards them against increases in healthcare costs, the union said.

Union to withdraw unfair labour practice charges

JBS said the deal was “within the economic framework” the company presented to the union months ago, though the union chose to reallocate pension contributions to wages.

“The strike at Greeley could have been avoided,” JBS said.

The meatpacker was pleased with the deal but “expressed disappointment that UFCW Local 7 leadership chose to eliminate the historic pension benefit that was part of the national agreement negotiated last year in partnership with UFCW International,” according to a statement.

Cordova said UFCW Local 7’s proposal was stronger than the national contract that unionized meatpacking workers at multiple other plants ratified with JBS last year.

As part of the deal with workers in Greeley, the union was withdrawing seven unfair labour practice charges against JBS, the company said.

Beef prices set records this year after the nation’s cattle inventory dropped to a 75-year low. Scarce supplies forced meatpackers to pay more for cattle to slaughter, even as processors benefited from the soaring beef prices.

Ranchers delivered cattle to other JBS plants during the strike at Greeley.

Rival meatpacker Tyson Foods closed a beef plant in Nebraska this year and reduced operations at a Texas facility.

JBS workers to strike at U.S. beef plant as consumers face record prices

Reuters, Tom Polansek — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 15:03:53 +0000

Chicago | Reuters — About 3,800 JBS meatpacking workers in Greeley, Colorado, plan to go on strike starting on March 16, the workers’ union said on Monday, crippling production at one of the largest U.S. beef plants as consumers face record-high prices.

The labor disruption pits a workforce made up largely of immigrants against the world’s largest meat company, and it has already driven ranchers to deliver cattle to alternate facilities.

Beef prices set records this year after the nation’s cattle supply dropped to a 75-year low. Meatpackers including JBS benefit from climbing prices but also must pay record costs to buy cattle to slaughter.

JBS in November reported third-quarter profit of $581 million (C$787.4 million), down from $693 million a year earlier.

Contract not negotiated fairly says union

“While customers are paying more than they ever have, none of that is trickling down to the frontline worker that’s actually doing all the heavy work,” said Kim Cordova, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 union that represents workers in Greeley.

JBS has participated in unfair labor practices and not negotiated fairly on a new contract over the past eight months, Cordova said. Workers sought wages that keep pace with inflation and wanted the company to stop charging them for replacing protective equipment they wear to do their jobs safely, she said.

JBS said it complies with labor laws, sought to reach a fair agreement, and charges employees for protective equipment that is lost or maliciously damaged.

“We stand by the offer we presented,” JBS said. “It is strong, fair, and consistent with the historic national contract reached in 2025.”

Last year, unionized meatpacking workers at multiple plants ratified a first-ever national contract with JBS. However, workers in Greeley already had some benefits in that contract, including sick leave, Cordova said.

JBS did not slaughter Monday

JBS said it was now adjusting cattle deliveries and processing schedules at Greeley and shifting production to other facilities to meet customer needs.

The company did not slaughter cattle at the plant on Monday. Cattle feeders said JBS canceled slaughtering in Greeley for the whole week, and one feeder said he was delivering livestock to a company facility in Cactus, Texas, instead.

“We’ve got way more kill space than finished cattle ready to slaughter,” said Corbitt Wall, a livestock market analyst for DVAuction. Ranchers will “just move them somewhere else.”

Rival meatpacker Tyson Foods closed a massive beef plant in Nebraska this year.

Workers at Maple Leaf’s Lagimodiere plant in Winnipeg give overwhelming strike mandate

Alexis Kienlen — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 20:16:05 +0000

Workers at the Maple Leaf Consumer Foods plant on Lagimodiere Boulevard in Winnipeg, voted 98 per cent in favour of a strike mandate on Nov. 15. The 1,880 workers are members of UFCW Local 832. This union has been bargaining with Maple Leaf since February.

Jeff Traeger, President and Chief Executive Officer with UFCW Local 832, said the strike vote was a first for the plant and was taken in response to Maple Leaf’s refusal to take the bargaining process seriously so far.

Maple Leaf has been pushing major concessions at the table, and the union members have shown they are united and want a fair deal, he said.

The union and Maple Leaf were back at the bargaining table Monday, Nov. 17. Negotiations are expected to continue right up to the current contract’s expiry on Dec. 31.

UFCW 832’s bargaining committee is made up of seven members from various departments at the plant, and three staff members from the union. The committee first started to collect proposals from the membership in February and brought these proposals to the bargaining table in May.

The Lagomidiere plant in Winnipeg produces and packages pork products, including bacon.

Mail strike disrupts grain sample delivery

Jeff Melchior — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 17:46:10 +0000

Glacier FarmMedia – Farmers participating in the Canadian Grain Commission’s Harvest Sample Program may need to find other ways to submit their grain if Canada’s current postal strike drags on.

In a note pinned to the top of the program’s official website, the CGC noted that the strike was causing mail delays with the program.

Farmers were urged to, if possible, deliver their samples directly to the CGC, either at their head office in downtown Winnipeg, another CGC office or service centre, or another approved drop off site.

Service centres are located in British Columbia (Prince Rupert), Alberta (Calgary); Saskatchewan (Saskatoon and Weyburn), Manitoba (Churchill), Ontario (Thunder Bay and Hamilton) and Québec (Baie-Comeau and Québec City). Western and eastern regional offices can be found in Vancouver and Montréal, respectively. A full list, phone numbers and addresses can be found on the CGC’s webpage through the Government of Canada website.

“Please contact the office or service centre you’re visiting to confirm they have a sample drop off box available,” the website advises.

Besides CGC offices, drop off sites have been arranged at the following locations:

BroadGrain Commodities Inc. – Dafoe, Sask.
Bunge – Lethbridge County, Alta.
All Paterson Grain elevators in Alberta, Saskatchewan or Manitoba
Sakai Spice – Lethbridge, Alta.

Farmers may also choose to keep their sample until the strike ends, the CGC said.

The last day to mail samples is Nov. 30, 2025. Dec. 31, 2025 is the last day for any samples to be included in this year’s Harvest Sample Program.

Testing for quality

The cross-country Harvest Sample Program is a voluntary initiative for testing a host of quality factors across a range of crops.

For each sample, inspectors provide unofficial grade and quality results at no charge, including:

Falling number for wheat and rye,
Vomitoxin (deoxynivalenol or DON) levels for wheat, corn, barley and oats,
Dockage assessment on canola and mustard seed,
Protein content on barley, beans, chickpeas, lentils, oats, peas and wheat,
Oil, protein and chlorophyll content for canola,
Oil and protein content and iodine value for flaxseed, and
Oil and protein for mustard seed and soybeans.

A CGC inspection supervisor said producer participants appear to be taking the inconvenience in stride.

“There hasn’t been a lot of complaints or anything. I haven’t heard one complaint,” said Judy Elias with the Weyburn, Sask., service centre.

“We’re all used to strikes, so there’s just new ways to do old business.”