A JBS USA subsidiary could be headed for another strike. This time it’s a meatpacking facility in Denver.
The United Food and Commercial Workers 7 announced last week that 97% of union members at Denver Processing, a meatpacking facility, voted to authorize a strike that could begin in the near future.
“They've just been engaging in unfair labor practices,” said Kim Cordova, president of UFCW Local 7. “And it's almost as if they just want to have a fight.”
The facility on Yuma Street in southwest Denver is a subsidiary of JBS. The parent company saw a similar strike at a Greeley facility earlier this spring.
Denver Processing processes meat for all Kroger stores throughout the Southwest. Those include King Soopers and City Market stores in Colorado, Fry’s Food and Drug Stores in Arizona, and Ralph’s Grocery Company in California. The plant employs 300 workers.
When could a strike start?
At the Denver facility, the two sides are scheduled to go back to the bargaining table on May 4. Cordova said employees are currently working through an extension agreement, which means UFCW Local 7 has to give a 72-hour notice before walking out. Cordova said that can come at any time.
“We're evaluating their behavior if they're actually going to come to the table. We are working through logistics right now. But once we give that 72-hour notice, then the no-strike clause in that agreement is gone,” Cordova said. “We already have strike authorization from the workers and from the members. And so once that provision in our collective bargaining agreement is no longer in effect, we have the ability to strike to engage in a work stoppage.”
What does each side say?
“Throughout this process, we have negotiated in good faith with the goal of reaching a fair agreement that supports our team members and recognizes their hard work,” JBS USA spokesperson Nikki Richardson said. “Our proposals include meaningful wage increases and a one-time bonus designed to provide immediate financial support while also ensuring long-term stability for employees and the organization.”
UFCW Local 7 said the unfair labor practices charges stem from conduct at and away from the bargaining table. Both sides are in the process of negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement to replace one that expired last September.
The union claims the company has engaged in interference and retaliation by issuing discipline to a bargaining committee member for attending a bargaining session on behalf of fellow workers. Cordova said the disciplinary action was a suspension.
“It interferes with our ability to negotiate a contract if you start attacking the bargaining team, folks that are actually at the table moving proposals in and out or accepting or rejecting the company's proposals or putting forth the workers' proposals,” Cordova said. “This is just another way for the company to try to bully and intimidate workers and force them to accept a concessionary contract or a contract that just isn't acceptable for the rest of the workers in their facility.”
UFCW Local 7 also accuses JBS USA of engaging in bad-faith and surface bargaining by using stalling tactics and making an immediate final offer without negotiations.
“They want to implement an offer by not bargaining, claiming that both sides are stalled and that we were at an impasse,” Cordova said. “And that's not true. We haven't even been able to really get into a lot of the discussions over the proposal because they just said, “Hey, this is the final offer, and they can't do that.”
Richardson questioned the union’s motives, noting a potential strike at Denver Processing would be the fifth strike initiated in four years against multiple employers by UFCW Local 7.
“Unfortunately, recent history demonstrates that striking does not necessarily lead to better outcomes for workers,” Richardson said. “In Greeley, the agreement reached after the strike left team members with a final deal closely mirroring the company’s last, best, and final offer, and without retroactive wages or a pension.”
What happened in Greeley?
Cordova said similar tactics were used during the negotiations with JBS USA’s Greeley flagship meatpacking plant.
Nearly 4,000 union employees at the Swift Beef Co. plant went on strike March 16 over wages, working conditions and improved care. The strike lasted three weeks before employees returned to work and negotiations resumed.
Both sides reached a tentative agreement on April 10. It was ratified two days later.
