GREELEY – The upward trajectory of Greeley has been hard to match by other Colorado communities in the here and now. 

The city is on the verge of experiencing dramatic growth and change.  

Greeley is in the midst of developing a state-of-the-art $1.1 billion entertainment district dubbed Catalyst, which will feature an 8,600-seat, multi-use arena and ice center that will be the new home of the Colorado Eagles — a popular minor-league affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche. The district will also include:   

• A year-round, family-friendly indoor waterpark and resort destination.  

• A full-service conference hotel that can host banquets and regional gatherings 

• Restaurants, entertainment venues and retail shops. 

Additionally, the University of Northern Colorado is set to open the state’s third medical school in the fall. At the same time, Aims Community College has partnered with one of the leading 3D construction printing companies, Alquist, which is headquartered in Greeley.  

It all suggests that Greeley is riding a wave of momentum. Yet that traction might be taking a hit soon.   

JBS USA — Weld County’s largest employer with over 3,800 employees, and headquartered in Greeley — is on the verge of a union worker-supported strike. 

Ninety-nine percent of unionized workers at the plant voted in favor of the strike on Feb. 4. It would be the first strike in the facility’s history.

UFCW Local 7, which represents JBS union employees and 22,000 union workers across Colorado and Wyoming, cited multiple reasons for the authorized strike in a press release. 

 “This strike authorization is the direct result of JBS’s unlawful and bad-faith conduct,” said Kim Cordova, president of UFCW Local 7. “Over the course of bargaining for a new contract, the union has filed multiple Unfair Labor Practice charges against JBS. These range from regressive bargaining, to threats to withhold a proposed bonus and lump sum pension payment if workers exercise their democratic right to strike, to illegal intimidation and retaliation against workers and bargaining committee members.” 

The release quoted JBS worker Leticia Avalos as saying: “We have been bargaining for eight months and JBS has prevented us from reaching a contract as a result of their Unfair Labor Practices. They continue to increase chain speeds and create dangerous working conditions all while reducing hours for workers. At the same time, the company is insisting on being able to steal workers’ pay through improper wage deductions. JBS has left us no alternative but to authorize a strike. Enough is enough.” 

The company is offering a 90-cent-per-hour wage increase for most workers, union representatives said, which they claim does not match the rising cost of living in Greeley.

There has been no set time for when the strike will begin. A security worker at JBS confirmed that it was business as usual at the JBS meat wholesaler office for now, with people at work.  

JBS issued the following response about the pending strike. 

“After months of good-faith negotiations with UFCW Local 7 in Greeley, JBS USA has presented a comprehensive offer that reflects the national agreement reached with UFCW International and accepted at our other large processing facilities throughout the U.S.,” JBS public relations and crisis communications executive Nikki Richardson said. “This agreement includes meaningful wage increases and a pension plan, providing both near-term and long-term financial security for team members, in addition to other strong benefits. Workers at our other locations have already agreed to these terms and are benefiting from these improvements today.”

Richardson added: “Our priority has always been to reach a fair and consistent agreement that recognizes the important role our team members play while also supporting the long-term stability of our operations and the Greeley community. We respect the collective bargaining process and remain hopeful that the local union will choose to move forward with this agreement so we can continue focusing on providing good-paying jobs, partnering with cattle producers in the region and serving our customers with high-quality food.”     

JBS is the nation’s largest meatpacking processor. Although headquartered in Greeley, JBS employs 65,000 employees at various facilities in the United States and Puerto Rico, according to the company’s website. JBS USA is a wholly owned subsidiary of Brazil-based JBS S.A., the world’s largest processor of beef and pork, with more than $50 billion in annual sales.

The vote to strike potentially complicates JBS’s announcement last year that it was investing $200 million in its Greeley and Cactus, Texas, beef production facilities. The projects include a new, state-of-the-art fabrication floor and a new, expanded ground beef room in Cactus and a new distribution center in Greeley, according to a release from JBS. The Greeley improvements would cost about $50 million, according to the company.

The company has had other issues that have clouded its reputation recently. It was the site of one of the largest COVID outbreaks in the state in 2020.  

Then in 2021 the Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the company for fines in a worker’s death, and after another employee lost an arm when it got stuck in a conveyor belt at the company’s beef plant in northern Colorado.  

Last year, a class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of Haitian workers at the plant who claimed the company was intentionally recruiting Haitian immigrants, then subjecting them to poor living and working conditions, according to reporting by The Denver Gazette news partner 9NEWS. 

More recently, in January of 2025, The Denver Gazette reported that JBS agreed to pay $4 million to assist individuals and communities affected by unlawful child labor practices nationwide.  

The $4 million agreement was authorized by the U.S. Department of Labor after a 2022 investigation by the DOL found a third-party contractor for JBS, Packer Sanitation Services Inc., had illegally employed 102 children, ages 13-17 years.  

As for the pending strike, UFCW Local 7 President Cordova said: “This vote reflects the seriousness of this moment. JBS can either return to the bargaining table prepared to negotiate in good faith and immediately cease its Unfair Labor Practices, or it can face the consequences of its own decisions.”