Workers' strike at one of the largest US meatpacking plants will continue for a 3rd week

DENVER (AP) — Thousands of striking workers at one of the nation's largest meatpacking plants will extend their walkout to a third week as they push for higher wages and better health care.

Industry experts said it’s too early to know if the strike that began March 16 at the Swift Beef Co. plant in Greeley, Colorado, will impact beef prices for shoppers.

Owner JBS USA said Friday that it's operating the plant at limited capacity and has shifted beef production elsewhere to meet its customers needs.

With negotiations stalled, the company remains in a strong position relative to the striking workers, said Jennifer Martin at Colorado State University’s animal sciences department.

That's because the industry is suddenly less burdened by excess slaughter capacity that had been keeping profit margins low. Now amid the Greeley strike and other slaughter plant capacity reductions — including the closure of a major Tyson Foods’ plant in Nebraska — JBS and other companies are seeing profits increase, Martin said.

“It’s not necessarily in favor of the employees,” she added. “The lack of harvest capacity at one facility right now might actually be a benefit to the larger industry in the sense of improving (profit) margins.”

It’s the first strike at a U.S. slaughterhouse since workers walked out at a Hormel plant in Minnesota in 1985. That strike lasted more than a year and included violent confrontations between police and protesters.

The Greeley strike began March 16 with support from 99% of the plant’s 3,800 workers who belong to the United Food and Commercial Union Local 7 union. Thousands have showed up at the picket line over the past two weeks.

Union officials say the company’s offer of 2% wage hikes is less than inflation.

“The Union stands ready to meet with JBS at any time, but make no mistake, workers will continue to fight until JBS rights these wrong,” union President Kim Cordova said.

JBS is the world’s largest meatpacking company with a market capitalization of $17 billion. It's the top employer in Greeley, a city 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Denver with a population of about 114,000 people.

“We are maintaining supply, supporting the long-term stability of the beef chain, and minimizing disruption for producers, customers, and consumers,” JBS spokesperson Nikki Richardson said in an email. “Our priority is to keep product moving while we work toward a resolution in Greeley.”

JBS was approved for trading on the New York Stock Exchange last May, despite environmental opposition and a federal probe that led to its guilty plea for bribing Brazilian officials for the financing it used for its U.S. expansion.

Brown reported from Billings, Montana.