Worthington pork plant union inks ‘historic’ national contract with meatpacker JBS

Workers at the JBS pork plant in Worthington, Minn., bargained for access to pensions, raises and increased safety protections as part of a national contract the union reached with the world’s largest meat producer this week.

The deal, which covers 26,000 workers at 14 plants belonging to the U.S. subsidiary of Brazil-based JBS, creates the first pension a meatpacking employer has offered since 1986.

“A new standard has just been set in meatpacking,” said Mark Lauritsen, a vice president at the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) international union, in a statement. “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.”