Migrant workers at Greeley meat packing plant speak out on workplace conditions

GREELEY, Colo. (KDVR) — Some migrant workers at the JBS Meat Packing Plant in Greeley are speaking out about what they say are horrible working conditions.

The union representing them, UFCW Local 7, has asked for a federal investigation.

The JBS Meatpacking Plant in Greeley was where the two individuals from Haiti had hoped to begin to build a better future. FOX31 spoke with them at their union headquarters in Greeley.

They said that from the moment they arrived, promises of a decent place to stay temporarily fell by the wayside. They asked not to be identified and spoke through an interpreter.

“When I got here, it was late in the day and they put us in a room with seven or eight people. There was only one bed,” one of the workers said.

The immigrants said they first heard about what was supposed to be the promise of good jobs and a good living on a TikTok post. But once they started working, they discovered the working conditions were unbearable.

The union says there are hundreds of migrants from both Haiti and West Africa being treated unfairly at the plant.

“And whenever I have my hands swelling or any kind of medical conditions on my hands and I am not able to work, my supervisor or management are giving me a lot of pressure to work,” the migrant said.

They said there was a lot of pressure to work quickly on the meat-cutting line when there were not enough people to meet those needs.

“Who is supposed to be (make) a better living condition, us or the cows we are killing?” the worker said.

JBS told FOX31 it has banned the non-employee who allegedly made false promises to the new employees from the plant’s facilities and new human resource leaders are in place. The spokesperson also said allegations of poor living conditions are unacceptable and upsetting and that workers are not required to live in any specific location.

On Thursday, a spokesperson for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration said it’s investigating workplace safety and health issues at the facility.

The National Labor Relations Board said it is investigating six unfair labor practices against the company.

JBS provided the following statement to FOX31, which is shared here in its entirety:

Mackenson Remy was never a JBS employee, and we banned him from our facility when we learned about these alarming allegations. We also notified local authorities and will cooperate with any resulting investigation. If it is determined that people were harmed by Mr. Remy’s actions, we will provide support to those individuals.

JBS takes the safety and welfare of all our team members seriously. Since being made aware of this situation, we have put new HR leaders in place at the facility and added new recruitment training programs to ensure our teams follow JBS’ strict hiring compliance policies. We are also working with the UFCW International to educate prospective and current team members about our hiring policies enterprise wide.

JBS does not charge team members or applicants for any pre-employment services, including transportation, application, pre-hire medical requirements, or housing, nor do we require them to live in any specific location. Any allegations of poor living conditions are unacceptable and upsetting. We want all of our employees to have access to safe housing and the opportunity to create a better life for themselves and their families.

JBS Meat Packing Plant

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