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Meatpacking workers at 14 JBS Foods facilities will see a significant change in their benefits package following the ratification of a first-ever national union contract.
The new contract has negotiated wage increases, a paid sick leave program and a pension retirement plan for 26,000 JBS workers, including those at the Grand Island and Omaha locations, along with Iowa locations in Marshalltown and Ottumwa.
Ivan Luna Guerrero, a refrigeration mechanic at the JBS Fed Beef plant in Grand Island, said in a press release this is the first time he’ll have paid sick time as an employee.
“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,” he said. “For too long, the meatpacking industry offered zero paid sick time for its workers.”
According to the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), this is the first time a meatpacking employer has offered a pension fund since 1986. Luna Guerrero is a member of his local UFCW chapter.
"It's a great improvement, and it'll make all the coworkers, myself, more happy at the workplace, and it's going to be more easy for us to take care of ourselves and our families," he said.
Luna Guerrero came from Mexico when he was about 20 years old and said he is now a proud U.S. citizen as of last year.
UFCW said the new paid sick leave program establishes an industry standard across the nation for other meatpacking companies.
“This contract also establishes new ergonomic safety measures to reduce workplace injury and fatigue, allows for dedicated walking stewards, and strengthens safety committees to ensure that workers are consistently protected across JBS facilities,” Mark Lauritsen, director of the food processing, packing and manufacturing division, said in a press release.
"I see a lot of my co-workers more happy because now we can feel like we are treated the way we deserve," Luna Guerrero added.
The contract also creates Safety and Ergonomic Committees at each JBS plant. The union will also work with JBS to establish a National Joint Labor Management Committee to focus on workplace communication and technology.