WASHINGTON — More than 26,000 meatpacking workers at JBS facilities across the country, including at the Hyrum plant in Cache Valley, have ratified the first-ever national contract negotiated by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW). The agreement, announced last week, delivers improvements in wages, safety, benefits and worker protections.
Workers at JBS’s Hyrum processing meat at the Hyrum plant.
The new contract establishes a jointly managed pension plan — the first of its kind in the meatpacking industry since 1986 — retroactive wage increases, and paid sick leave, among other gains. Workers will also see improvements in vacation time and enhanced safety measures, including dedicated walking stewards on all shifts and uniform Safety and Ergonomic Committees in each facility.
“This contract also establishes new ergonomic safety measures to reduce workplace injury and fatigue,” said Mark Lauritsen, UFCW International Vice President in a release. “After nearly 40 years, JBS workers will have a pension retirement plan, giving them a path to a secure financial future.”
JBS employing more than 1,300 at the Hyrum beef production facility with an annual payroll of more than $60 million.
JBS’s Hyrum beef facility is among the 14 plants covered by the agreement. Local UFCW chapters, including those in Cache Valley, played a key role in what the union described as its largest nationally coordinated bargaining effort in history.
The contract includes the creation of a new Taft-Hartley pension fund, uniform paid sick leave, and substantial financial compensation — including retroactive pay and ratification bonuses. Average hourly pay for JBS meatpacking workers will now range from $23 to $24, with increases that further stabilize the industry workforce.
They Hyrum JBS plant employs 1,300 people to run their beef processing facility.
A National Joint Labor Management Committee will also be created to evaluate how new technologies may impact worker safety and job structure.
The contract was ratified by UFCW members at JBS beef and pork facilities in 13 other communities across the country.