Workers at JBS plant in Greeley prepare to launch nation's first meatpacker strike in decades [View all]

Source: Colorado Sun

The union is protesting unsafe working conditions and an expired contract, while also supporting Haitian immigrants who could lose TPS status

Tamara Chuang and Tracy Ross
4:00 AM MST on Feb 12, 2026

Union workers at the JBS meatpacking plant in Greeley plan to spend Saturday preparing for what could become the nation’s first meatpacker strike in decades.

Some will train to be picket captains, while others make picket signs. As for the actual walkout of nearly 3,800 JBS workers in Greeley? A decision could be made by Feb. 20, the one day JBS is willing to negotiate, union officials said.

JBS production employees have been on an extended contract since late July, after the previous agreement expired. The union can end the extension with seven days’ notice, said Kim Cordova, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, which represents workers at the Weld County plant, one of the largest beef processors in the U.S.

“If JBS does not return to the bargaining table and they don’t resolve the unfair labor practices, then we will pull the extension,” Cordova said Tuesday.


A worker heads into the JBS meatpacking plant in Greeley in 2020. (David Zalubowski, AP Photo, File)

Read more: https://coloradosun.com/2026/02/12/greeley-meatpackers-union-strike-jbs-beef-ufcw/