Greeley, CO – JBS Greeley workers are starting the first weekend of their strike strong, with over 1000 picketing outside the meatpacking plant on March 20.

United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 7 union members and JBS workers alike wrapped around the block outside the JBS factory on Friday. People crowded along the barrier on 8th Avenue and danced to music in Spanish and English, forming conga lines with supporters and strike marshals.

In December 2025, Haitian immigrant JBS employees, who comprise a large number of night shift plant workers, filed a class action lawsuit against the meatpacking company for dangerous working and living conditions, after being recruited under false pretenses.

When they were hired, JBS promised free housing and fair pay; instead, Haitian employees had to pay out of pocket to live with 20-30 people in a single motel room and get paid meager wages to meet dangerously high processing quotas.

Since the lawsuit was filed, conditions have only gotten worse. JBS has sped up production for members across the factory – so much so that employees aren’t getting the 40 hours of work a week that they were promised, according to a shop steward. Workers also must use dull knives to cut beef.

UFCW Local 7 has been negotiating with JBS since May 2025, and their contract ended in July. After nearly ten months of unsuccessful negotiations, over 90% of all workers in the plant voted to strike, which began on March 16.

Hundreds of non-workers and their families have also shown up to support the struggle against JBS.

“I was taught growing up, you pick a side and stand with it and that’s what I’m doing,” said one of the political coordinators of the strike, “fighting along my brothers and sisters who don’t have the support structure I have, but deserve a chance at the American dream.”

#GreelyCO #CO #Labor #Strike #UFCW

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