The Fight for Safety Is in Your Hands

The strike is off thanks to the backstabbing of the UFCW Local 7 leadership, and nothing has changed inside the JBS plant in Greeley, except for the extra armed security guards and cops lurking around. But crucially, despite everything they have been through, meatpacking workers are still in the fight for safety. They demanded answers from President Cordova, who has made herself scarce. They gathered outside the contract talks, which resumed today. It is not lost on union members that they have to keep a close eye on both sides of the table. As one meatpacker put it, JBS could give Satan pointers on how to make hell a more miserable place, and the Local 7 honchos treat people like mushrooms. They keep folks in the dark and feed them a line of shit.

A few of the bosses’ politicians in Congress wrote a letter advising JBS to reach a “fair resolution.” That is about as likely as the cattle at the plant starting to talk. The only way to win safety is for the union to pry control of enforcement from JBS. Cordova has already demonstrated that she does not have it in her. But the ranks certainly do. They just need some organization and a winning strategy. To begin, every worker should make absolutely clear to company execs and union officials alike: Nothing short of union control of the production line speed is acceptable. Not so long ago, the union had at least some say. It is well past time to restore that control and establish the right of union reps to shut down the line immediately whenever it begins to move too fast. Any contract that does not contain these minimal safety demands should be outright rejected. Lives and limbs are on the chopping block.

Meatpackers hail from all over the globe. JBS recruited in this way to try to create divisions among the workers. But in doing so, they created a union membership with a wide range of experiences, which can be a real source of strength if combined together. Meatpackers who want to keep up the fight should reach out to their like-minded union brothers and sisters of different national backgrounds to establish a safety committee and work out a plan of battle. There should be a mass turnout at the next day of negotiations to send a loud message on safety. The word should be spread to workers throughout the plant: The workers are the union. If the tentative agreement does not have essential safety guarantees and union enforcement, then it should be voted down and the strike resumed. And in preparation for that, meatpackers should start talking now to the maintenance and other unions about solidarity action.