WASHINGTON – In what is being referred to as a historic agreement, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) announced on May 22 the ratification of a national contract with JBS that includes benefits for 26,000 workers at 14 of the company’s US-based processing plants. According to the UFCW, the contract provisions include wage increases, new paid sick leave benefits, additional vacation time and a new pension-based retirement program as well as other contract upgrades.

Mark Lauritsen, director of the Food Processing, Packing and Manufacturing Division and international vice president of UFCW International, said the contract provisions include significant worker safety measures and programs designed to ensure JBS workers are protected physically in the workplace and financially secure in the future.

“We applaud UFCW members for ratifying this historic contract,” Lauritsen said. “Through the collaboration of our local bargaining committees and the commitment of JBS to providing industry-leading benefits and protections, after nearly 40 years, JBS workers will have a pension retirement plan, giving them a path to a secure financial future. Every employer in the meatpacking industry should follow JBS’s leadership and reintroduce pension plans for the hard-working men and women who keep America fed.”

Workers like Ivan Luna Guerrero, a mechanic at the JBS Fed Beef plant in Grand Island, Neb., said the new agreement is another step toward normalizing fundamental benefits for meat industry workers that have historically not been available.

“For the first time, JBS will have a paid sick time program that we can use to take care of ourselves and our families while keeping us healthy and safe on the job,” Guerrero said. “For too long, the meatpacking industry offered zero paid sick time for its workers. Now it’s become the standard thanks to the solidarity of UFCW members and our ability to stand together and achieve better working conditions for all of us.”

Other features of the contract include:

• A designated walking steward will be present during all shifts at each facility to enforce contract provisions, including safety measures, such as line speed, to protect workers on the job.

• Significant wage increases for unionized workers, including retroactive pay and a ratification bonus.

• Establishing a National Joint Labor Management Committee to improve communications and review the impact of new technologies before they are introduced in the workplace.