By Patrick Thomas

Workers at a critical beef-processing plant owned by JBS went on strike Monday, stifling production at a time when prices for the protein are at record highs.

The Greeley, Colo., plant is one of the largest of its type in the U.S. It can slaughter about 6,000 cattle a day, and accounts for roughly 5% of America's beef-processing capacity.

The strike among unionized workers is the largest at a meat plant in decades. It also comes as meat companies are losing billions of dollars annually producing beef. The smallest cattle herd in 75 years has driven up the cost of purchasing cattle from ranchers, squeezing meatpackers' profits.

JBS, whose headquarters is in Brazil, is the world's largest meatpacker and the top beef processor in the U.S. by volume. Through the first nine months of 2025, JBS reported a $566 million operating loss in its North American beef business, compared with a $64 million loss the prior year.

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union last year agreed to a new long-term labor contract covering about 26,000 workers across more than a dozen U.S. facilities.

The union local representing about 3,800 Greeley workers opted out of the national deal, saying that it didn't account for the higher cost of living in Colorado.

JBS and the Greeley union local negotiated for months on a new labor contract, but weren't able to reach an agreement.

The union said JBS has refused wage increases that keep pace with inflation. It wants the company to stop charging employees for certain protective equipment, such as gloves, that they wear to do their jobs.

"JBS is more interested in a labor dispute at the Greeley plant than resolving these issues," said Kim Cordova, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union local that represents Greeley workers.

JBS began canceling cattle shipments and halting slaughter at the plant last week in preparation for a potential work stoppage. The company is shifting cattle deliveries from feedlots where livestock are fattened to its other large processing facilities across the U.S., such as Grand Island, Neb., and Cactus, Texas.

The company said its goal is to minimize impact on its customers and the broader marketplace. It also said any employees who don't want to strike can come to work and be paid.

"We do not believe a strike is in the best interest of our team members or their families," a JBS spokeswoman said. "We stand by the offer we presented. It is strong, fair, and consistent with the historic national contract reached in 2025."

JBS's U.S.-listed shares are down about 6% over the past month.

A temporary plant closure leaves U.S. ranchers with one less buyer for their cattle, depressing livestock prices. That could make it more profitable for meatpackers to fully operate their plants and meet America's rising demand for protein.

Live cattle futures -- the price meatpackers pay feedlots for their livestock -- are down 4% over the past month in anticipation of a strike. Still, prices are up more than 13% over the past 12 months.

Beef companies have been adjusting their operations in response to the tight-supply environment in the U.S. JBS rival Tyson Foods closed one of its larger plants in Nebraska in January and laid off 3,200 workers because of rising cattle costs. Tyson earlier this year cut production at a large Texas plant in half to reduce costs.

Cattle costs are expected to remain high for the next few years as ranchers have been reluctant to rebuild their herds. For consumers, that has translated to record-high beef prices. Ground-beef prices were up 15% last month from the prior year, according to the Labor Department.

Write to Patrick Thomas at patrick.thomas@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 16, 2026 08:00 ET (12:00 GMT)

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