Posts Categorized: Packing and Processing

On Feb. 3, the UFCW announced its support for the reintroduction of the Protecting America’s Meatpacking Workers Act.

This legislation, introduced by U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Representative Ro Khanna (Calif.-17), would provide essential protections to meatpacking workers across the country by strengthening worker safety provisions, increasing transparency, and supporting American jobs in an industry that continues to feel strains resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Meatpacking and food processing workers risked their health and safety as essential workers every single day during the height of the pandemic to ensure American families had food on the table,” said UFCW International President Marc Perrone in a statement. “While our union was able to fight for and secure many protections for our members, every single worker in this industry deserves the essential protections that meat and poultry processing companies are still failing to provide.”

“The UFCW stands firmly with Senator Booker and Representative Khanna as they reintroduce the Protecting America’s Meatpacking Workers Act,” Perrone added. “This critically important legislation will be instrumental in protecting workers, holding the industry accountable, and making our food system more resilient. Americans should be able to trust that the food they put on the table comes from American workers who are protected on the job.”

On Dec. 15, over 200 members of UFCW Local 7 who work at Denver Processing in Denver, Colo., ratified a new contract that raises wages and protects benefits. Denver Processing is a pork and beef case-ready plant and owned by JBS. This ratification took place days after Denver Processing workers voted to strike against the company’s unfair labor practices.

The three-year contract includes first-year wage increases for every new employee and increases of $6 or more an hour for every employee over the course of the three-year deal. UFCW Local 7 also successfully negotiated to keep workers on their existing union health care plans and protected existing pension plans for its members, along with more stringent safety measures in the workplace.

The contract also ended two-tier discrimination on vacations, doubled the night premium, and increased weekly guarantees for weekly minimum hours from 20 to 32.

“From the beginning of this process, we promised our members that we would procure the very best contract we could,” said UFCW Local 7 President Kim Cordova. “ We are excited that our members voted unanimously to ratify this industry-leading contract that will ensure that JBS respects, protects and pays these essential workers who risked their health and lives during the pandemic to help feed our communities.”

“In the last contract negotiation with the company, our bargaining unit fought hard for us,” said Rosa Zuñiga, who works at Denver Processing. “We won one of the best contracts in the country for case-ready meat processors and we resolved many issues, including scheduling, which has been big for me as a working mom.”