Meatpackers are on strike for the first time in 40 years. Beef industry labor disputes may be rare by design

Nearly 4,000 workers at a Colorado meatpacking plant went on strike on Monday, marking the first labor strike at a U.S. slaughterhouse in more than four decades. The strike began early Monday morning at the Swift Beef Co. plant, which is owned by JBS USA, a subsidiary of the largest meatpacking company and protein producer in the world.  About 3,800 workers, represented by United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, are involved in the strike. The union says that the company has committed multiple unfair labor practices—including retaliation against workers, threats to withhold bonuses or pension payments if workers strike, and intimidation. The Colorado action is the first at a U.S. slaughterhouse since workers went on strike at a Hormel plant in Minnesota in 1985, an action that lasted for more than a year.  JBS has also charged workers to offset the costs of safety equipment, has proposed wage increases of less than 2% per year, and has raised health care premiums in a way