March 16, 2026

About 3,800 workers at one of the nation’s largest meatpacking plants were set to strike Monday morning in Colorado in what union representatives said would be the first walkout at a U.S. beef slaughterhouse since the 1980s.

Approximately 3,800 workers at the Swift Beef Co. plant in Greeley, Colorado, prepared to strike Monday morning in the first beef slaughterhouse walkout since the 1980s, fueled by union accusations of retaliation and unfair labor practices from owner JBS USA amid stalled contract negotiations. The strike, authorized by 99% of workers, coincides with a 75-year low U.S. cattle population and rising beef prices, intensifying economic concerns and drawing government attention to trade deals aimed at lowering food costs. Efforts to intimidate workers to abandon the union and the company's refusal to negotiate over the weekend have heightened tensions just as the previous contract expired at midnight Sunday.

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